


Two Brothers

by greyquill



Category: NCT (Band), SuperM (Korea Band)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Jungle, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Family Fluff, Hybrids, Implied Mpreg, Johnny is a hot hunter, Lee Fam, M/M, Minor Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Minor Moon Taeil/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Minor Wong Kun Hang | Hendery/Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun, OT23 (NCT), Tigers, hybrids not seen as people, kind of inspired by tiger inside, or so you thought, re-write of a film
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:22:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 33,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29284488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyquill/pseuds/greyquill
Summary: Twin tigers Mark and Yukhei are separated from their parents as cubs. Their family ultimately torn apart when humans come and ravage their village. The brothers struggle to survive in a world where hybrids are enslaved or killed for sport, and when they inevitably meet again, it is under the worst of circumstances.
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin & Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten, Mark Lee & Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Nakamoto Yuta/Qian Kun
Comments: 34
Kudos: 82





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This one's been a long time coming. I began writing it last year and it still isn't done, but if it's received well, well, that might just be the push I need to wrap it up.  
> Anyway, this is basically a re-write of the film of the same name, which if you watch it, you'll know exactly what's coming lol  
> Enjoy!

The place he roams is free. Free, not in the monetary sense, but in the sense that he may be whatever he wants to be, do as he pleases, live without constraints. His mother once told him, when he was a cub, that their ancestors were born of white, sterile places—places where the word free was nothing but that: a word. Their ancestors fought and fought for that word, died for that word, until it was more than a word, until it was a dream. From a dream, it became a hope, from a hope, it became a reality.

The place he roams is split, separate from the oppressive place of white walls and invisible constraints called laws and regulations. He lives in a village of creatures like him, something both animal and human. His mother told him the bland humans, their oppressors, took to calling creatures like them “hybrids”. A funny label, but one he bears with pride. His mother told him lots of things, taught him everything he knows, raised him to be proud of his stripes, of his strong, sharp teeth, of his ferocious beauty.

She never taught him what to do should he encounter another like him. Hybrids like him, tigers, are rare—rare enough that he never met another tiger in his whole life, living in that village of free hybrids, the village called This Place. Until one day, he did, and he knows, more than anything, what he wants.

“Why is everyone giving me funny looks?” Ten mutters as he walks up beside his best friend.

“Apparently, there’s a new tiger in the village—” Doyoung shakes his head, flopping his long ears away from his face as he picks up another basket full of vegetables from the endless amount in his wheelbarrow to place on his stand—“He arrived last night.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Ten flicks his tail in annoyance.

“Word is he’s looking to settle down.” Doyoung heaves another basket of fruits onto his stand.

Ten wrinkles his nose at the vibrant multitude of fruits and glances up at his friend as he pulls his luxurious black-furred ears away from his face, his little nose twitching. “And how did you come about this information, my dear bunny?”

“Everyone’s talking about it—” he pokes Ten’s nose and smirks when he sneezes and swats at his hand—“And I’m the herbivore’s main seller. I know all the gossip.”

“I think if there were anything worth knowing, I would know about it. I hold a lot of sway, don’t you know?”

“Not more than I do.”

“Doubtful,” Ten snickers.

Doyoung rolls his eyes, “Do I have to remind you of the fact that my family has lived in this village far longer than yours has? My great-great-great-grandmother was one of the founders.”

“I _know_ , Doie, you tell me all the time.”

“Good. Now, git! I’m busy.” Doyoung motions for him to leave. Ten shakes his head and steps away from the cart, out of the way of a family of bunnies trying to get to the stand. 

This Place is a village built on the ruins of an even older civilization, one with which he isn’t familiar with whatsoever, but they left their sprawling stone buildings to them and it’s home. If it’s true that that tiger is looking for a mate, then he’ll be looking for him. Though Ten will only accept his proposal if he deems the tiger worthy. He remembers his mother telling him about how she met his father. He was a farmer, but his real worth was in his looks. This tiger will have to be decent-looking and smart if he wants to stand a chance with Ten.

He smiles to himself, strolling along through the village until he’s left it behind to venture into the jungle. He follows a familiar path through the foliage of the forest floor and over roots and rising rocks to a small stream downhill of the village. The sun shimmers on the water through a break in the tall trees, dappled with shadows. Just across there are more ruins, though these are not as broken, and largely uninhabited. Most of the village are herbivores and they find comfort in living as one mass—strength in numbers. But Ten. Ten wants to make that majestic ruined temple his home someday for him to plant roots in This Place, where his children will inherit it and their children and their children and so on and so on. And he’ll be remembered as the matriarch that started it all.

He lays by the stream, basking in the sun and daydreaming of his future, of luxuries, of all his family together, loving and surviving, ruling as monarchs of the jungle, deities—untouchable, mysterious, coveted. He’s interrupted sometime after midday, after sating himself with minnows and frogs from the stream. He glances over his shoulder at the green of giant leaves and ferns, focuses on the spaces in between until he makes eye-contact with the source of the soft crunches. Wide, dark eyes in a face obscured by the shadows.

He glances away and up at the sun, past the highest point in the sky. “Took you long enough to find me.”

The leaves rustle as the stranger steps through into the small clearing, but he doesn’t come any closer than that.

“I heard of your arrival and why you’ve come to This Place. Are your intentions true?”

“I came only to make my family proud. I hope to stay for other reasons. I was told I could find someone like me here… someone to take care of me,” his voice is deep and sincere. These are good things.

“What’s your name?”

“Taeyong.”

Ten hums, glances over his shoulder again and smiles. Blond hair and dark eyes. He is _beautiful_ and lean and, surprisingly, put-together. His mother told him many hybrids resort back to their wild sides. He hears Taeyong’s breath catch in his throat and smirks to himself, standing from his spot by the stream. All checkmarks on his list. All more that needs to be done is a test. He cannot have a mate that can’t keep up with him, mother warned. 

And without another word, he jumps across the stream and sprints off into the jungle, towards the ruins—his dream. His hope—he hears Taeyong right behind him, nearly on his tail, keeping up well as he bounds through tunnels of foliage and under old rectangular arches of stone until they’re in a clearing before the old stone temple. He slows to a stop, turning to face Taeyong. He’s huffing lightly and then tries to control his breathing when their eyes meet again.

“My name is Ten—” he smiles when pink creeps up on Taeyong’s cheeks—“I’ve never met any other tigers before, well except my mother.”

“Me either… I kind of thought I was the only one after a while.”

“Me too.” Ten makes himself comfortable on a slab of stone and pats it. Taeyong jumps and joins him. “How far have you travelled?” He rests his hands on either side of his thighs, smiles when he feels Taeyong take the opportunity—their pinkies brush against each other, electricity runs through them both.

“I’m far away from home. I travelled for 3 moons… to find you.”

“Are you disappointed?”

“No. I… I think this is the happiest I’ve been all my life.”

Ten chuckles, tail squirming with content. It catches with Taeyong’s and intertwines, naturally. They both smile wide. He found his mate on a perfectly normal day. “I think… we have a lot to learn of each other.”

Taeyong scoots closer, close enough he can nuzzle his head against Ten’s, their ears brush against each other, their hands intertwine. Ten smiles. This tiger is patient, well-mannered, raised right. He can tell as much because he’s been emitting his pheromones this whole while and Taeyong has moved slow despite that, hasn’t jumped at him. He purrs and nuzzles his cheek against his.

“What happened to your mother?” Taeyong asks softly, arms wrapped around his waist, leaning into him. Ten rests an arm over his shoulders, holding him close.

“She passed away. She was buried by the village chief a while ago. My father passed away long before her.”

“You’re here all alone?”

“Not completely. I have my best friend keeping me company. He’s a rabbit, but he’s somehow taller than me. We’ve been friends ever since we were babies.”

Taeyong giggles, really giggles. Ten grins at the sweet sound.

“I don’t do much in the village. My mother was a genius and served as the chief’s scribe. Sometimes she’ll request my help with the same work—” he gestures with a head nod towards the north—“There’s a town of humans that way, but they don’t come bothering us and we don’t go bothering them either. Going there is a death sentence.”

“Humans are odd,” Taeyong murmurs.

“They really are.” Ten looks down at Taeyong. “And what do you do?”

Taeyong blushes pink, meeting Ten’s eyes, “I… I cook and I clean. I can fight and protect. My mother taught me to take care of cubs too…”

He’s a keeper, Ten thinks and smiles, butting their foreheads together softly. Taeyong purrs, shivers running down his spine when their noses brush. Ten grabs Taeyong’s chin, directing his gaze to the ruined temple, tall and dark and intimidating in its stature. “This is the place I want to make a home out of. Will you be able to help me?” He asks, rubbing his thumb against the bone of Taeyong’s jaw.

Taeyong kisses his palm, “In whatever way I can until my last breath.”

Ten smiles and presses his nose to his temple before pressing a soft kiss there. “And we’ll learn to love each other?”

“Yes,” Taeyong purrs.

“Good. Let’s begin.” Ten nuzzles his nose against Taeyong’s cheek and slides off the stone, shifting into his tiger form as he does. He glances up at Taeyong and feels his heart fill with glee when his breath catches in his throat again. He inherited many things from his mother, one of those is his piercing blue eyes like jewels. Taeyong shifts, his tiger is of the most golden fur Ten’s ever seen, his eyes a perfect brown. He’s beautiful.

Ten growls, turning tail towards the entrance of the temple, a tree grows over the stone entry, vines hang over it and the roots curl around it, nearly becoming one with the temple. Taeyong follows close behind him, answering his growls with those of his own. Their paws crunch over the dead leaves and twigs littered inside the dark corridors. Light streams in through small openings along the walls, adding shadows to their stripes.

Taeyong attempts to mount him, paws snagging on his rear. Ten slips out of his hold and whaps his tail against his nose, running further to a room where the ceiling is caved in. A tree occupies the gap, roots growing through cracks where the stone is becoming one with the earth. He turns around, snarling at Taeyong, swatting his paws at him, claws outstretched. Taeyong stands down, ears swiveling back in submission so the white dots are visible. Ten bares his fangs and lays down, rolling onto his back even as he keeps swiping his claws at Taeyong. 

When he doesn’t reciprocate an ounce of the aggression, Ten finally rolls back onto his belly and lets Taeyong mount him. His reality—every decision he’s made, every breath he’s taken, every hardship he’s been dealt has molded him and led him to the person it’s all been for.

…

Ten lumbers through the dark halls of his home. The ruined temple made for a perfect place to settle. Little light reaches the inside, just enough for him to see, just enough for him to be perfectly hidden in the shadows with the aid of his stripes. The dead twigs and cobwebs were all swept out of the old temple, the paths cleared for the mingling of stone and dirt to be seen underfoot. Vines and ferns grow wildly along with the moss, and all of this tended to by Taeyong. He proved his worth, his skills time and time again, and Ten can say without a doubt he’s in love.

He steps through the entryway, slipping through the vines hanging there and into the bright sun of early afternoon. His sons follow behind him, hopping over roots and the elevated steps of the stone entry. They both take after him and they’re hyper— his hyper little angels.

“Mama,” Mark says, running ahead of him to pick up a branch and start swinging it at a fern bush. “Can we go buy honeys?”

“Only if your brother wants to.” Ten glances down at his other cub, a little shyer than Mark even though he’s slightly bigger. His son looks up at him, hugging onto his side, small hands bunching up the hem of his shirt. “Wanna go, baby?”

Mark throws the stick away to run up to his brother. “Come on, Yukhei! We’ll get a lot!”

“I wanna stay with Ma,” he says, nuzzling his face into Ten’s hip.

Mark wrinkles his nose and bats a hand at Yukhei, tugging on his sleeve, the short hem falling just slightly below his shoulder. “Pleaseeee.”

Yukhei bats a hand back at him but Mark jumps away with a grin and giggles, hopping from side to side. They appear 5 years old in their human forms, but they’re really just a few months old and yet to be weaned, Ten laments, thinking of his sore chest. Mark forgets all about his honeys as Yukhei chases behind him, striped tails going wild, little black and white ears perked. They’re both lanky little things and perfect combinations of his and Taeyong’s genes. And they both came out with Taeyong’s perfect brown eyes.

They stumble over each other into the grass, smudging their beige cotton garments, little shorts and shirts that will have to be scrubbed diligently, and then stop altogether when they hear a baying roar in the distance, over the chittering of other creatures and insects. Ten smiles, looking towards the surrounding jungle. “Did you hear that, babies?”

Mark and Yukhei nod, scrambling to their feet. The roar resounds again from the distance. Ten walks on ahead of his cubs, through the brush. The cubs follow on his tail, quickening their pace to a jog to keep up with Ten’s long strides. Mark makes a small squeaky noise as he runs ahead along the path leading back towards the village. He leaps into the stream and wades across, running into the arms of his—“Papa!”

“Mark!” Taeyong grins, crouching to pick up his cub. Mark smiles and nuzzles his face against Taeyong’s, giggling when his father chuffs, blowing warm air on him.

Yukhei grabs onto his mother’s hand as they wade across the stream, holding his tail in the other to keep it from getting wet. He lets go of his hand once they’re safe on the dry sandy bank, kicking his legs to get rid of the sensation of water droplets. Taeyong smiles, watching him, and crouches again, setting Mark down. Yukhei smiles and hugs onto his father, nuzzling his face into his neck, “Hi, Papa.”

“Hi, baby—” he smiles and butts their foreheads together—“I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Papa,” Yukhei grins, shaking his head to rub their foreheads together.

“I got you and your brother something,” Taeyong whispers, reaching into the pocket of his dark blue, dirt-smudged pants, contrasting with his yellowed white shirt.

Yukhei’s eyes widen and Mark crowds beside him to see what their surprise is. “What is it?! What is it?!”

Taeyong slips his closed fist out of his pocket and holds it up. “Guess.”

The brothers press their noses to their father’s closed fist, sniffling. “Is it worms?” Mark asks with a grimace on his face. Taeyong giggles and shakes his head no. Yukhei grabs onto his wrist as he sniffs, his little hands barely able to close around it.

“Is it honeys?”

“Ding! Ding! Ding!” Taeyong smiles, depositing two little oval amber-colored pellets in their hands. Mark grins and stuffs the candy in his mouth. Yukhei smiles and holds it in his fist, giving the candy little kitten licks. Taeyong stands, brushing off his hands on his thighs to finally face the love of his life.

Ten purrs and runs his hands over Taeyong’s shoulders. His mate’s hair has grown out long and Taeyong keeps it tied up in a little bun as he does now, “You’re off early?”

Taeyong smiles and nuzzles his nose against Ten’s, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips as he hugs him. “The boss let me go for the day.”

“What? Is the boss man pregnant again?” Ten chuckles, thinking of his best friend and his multiple excuses of “this is my last litter”.

“No. He told me to tell you that the chief wants all the mothers and bearers together for a meeting. He didn’t say what it was about though.” Taeyong leans his face into Ten’s hands, nuzzling his cheeks into his palms. Ten hums and massages his thumbs into Taeyong’s cheekbones, strokes stray hairs behind his ears. 

It isn’t really necessary for Taeyong to work, but he’s been helping at Doyoung’s farm ever since they mated, plowing the fields and planting, tending to vegetables. The village is prosperous enough that every family gets cloths to make their simple garments, a small plot along with their home, and, in the Lee’s case, permission to hunt outside the boundaries of the village’s grounds. But Taeyong likes working because he gets money to buy his cubs treats and to increase Ten’s wealth. As the only tigers in This Place and the strongest of the few carnivores, they’re held in high regard by the chief.

“Tired, my love?” Ten murmurs when Taeyong nearly melts in his hands.

“Just a little,” Taeyong smiles softly, staring up at Ten adoringly.

Ten kisses his forehead. “Rest a little. I’m gonna go see what they want. Watch our babies please.”

“I will,” Taeyong purrs and blushes pink when Ten kisses him, nips his lip softly.

“Good,” Ten smiles and pats his cheeks before marching up the hill towards the main area of the village. Taeyong watches him go until he disappears into the green. He sits with a sigh, leaning against an old turned over log. Mark and Yukhei are crouching by the edge of the stream, staring into the running water, their little tails swishing behind them.

Yukhei stands and scampers over to him, crash-landing on his lap and somehow still holding on to his candy. “Where is Ma goin’?”

“He’s going to meet up with the chief. He might take a while.”

“Is it something important?” Yukhei keeps licking at his candy and leans on his father’s shoulder.

“I think so.” Taeyong pets a hand over his son’s back and licks his ears, cleaning the fur. Yukhei purrs and holds his hand up, offering him a lick of the honey treat. Taeyong smiles and takes one lick, tasting the sweetness of the honey and the salty of Yukhei’s grubby little paw. “Thank you, baby.”

Mark gasps over by the water and stands, pointing downstream. “Papa, can I go look at something really quick?!”

“Ok, but don’t take too long.”

Mark grins and starts running down along the bank, out of sight behind ferns and tall grass. Yukhei stands, supporting himself on his father’s shoulder before running after his brother. Taeyong watches them go and leans his head back on the log with a sigh, basking in the sun and listening for his cubs.

Yukhei follows along behind his brother, pushing through greenery until they’ve come across another little clearing where there are piglet and monkey hybrids playing soccer with an old tree nut. He doesn’t know them but that’s because he and his brother get homeschooled by their parents. The stream pools into a small pond, and this is what draws Mark’s interest. He picks up a twig and starts poking at the bottom of the pond, kicking up dirt, making the water murky. Yukhei stands beside him, still licking at his candy even though his hand is all sticky. Mark emits a small huff and paces around to the other side of the pond, jabbing his stick into the water again.

“What are you lookin’ for?”

“I think I saw a frog,” Mark grins. “I’m gonna catch it and give it to Mama!”

Yukhei smiles and crouches near the edge of the pond, watching as his brother keeps moving further and further along the banks, poking his stick in as he goes. 

Until he feels a hand grab his tail. He jumps, startled, and looks back. One of the monkey hybrids is grabbing his tail. His mother told him not to let anyone grab his tail.

“What do you have there?” The kid asks, Yukhei knows they’re probably the same age… probably.

“Please let go of me,” he says firmly.

The monkey doesn’t listen and ambles closer, sniffing and inching towards his hand still holding the honey candy. Yukhei holds his hand out, away from him. “Let me see,” the monkey says, pulling on his shirt to bring his arm around close.

Yukhei’s ears flatten against his head and he bares his teeth, pushing the kid away with a hand on his chest. The monkey shrieks surprised and tumbles to the ground. He sits up, sniffling, and runs over to his friends, crying and gesturing back at him. Yukhei shrinks into himself when one of the bigger kids, a piglet hybrid, comes marching towards him. 

The fear thudding in his heart grows with each step the kid takes. He panics and flings his candy towards the stream before running for the nearest tree, whining in his throat. He shifts into his tiger form and digs his claws into the bark, climbing up.

“Come back here, pissball!” The kid yells, banging his fists on the trunk of the tree.

Yukhei cries and mews loudly, hanging onto a branch for dear life.

The piglet snorts and glares up at him, flaring his nostrils. He stops hammering his fists against the tree when he hears a low growl come from behind. Mark bares his fangs and wields his twig like a sword, growling at the piglet, “Leave my brother alone.”

The piglet turns around, arching a brow unimpressed. “And if I don’t, what are you gonna do about it, _pussy cat_?”

Mark raises his arms over his head and whacks him right over his nose. The piglet squeals in pain and holds his hands over his face, tears streaming down his cheeks as he runs off. The rest of his posse follows after him just as scared. Mark glares after them and then looks up at his brother, who’s trying to climb down. Yukhei yelps all squeaky-like as he jumps to the ground and shifts as he tumbles.

“Are you ok?” Mark nuzzles his face against his brother’s teary one. Yukhei nods and nuzzles back. They purr as they cuddle, comforting each other. Mark licks Yukhei’s cheek, and Yukhei hugs onto his brother until he’s through sniffling.

“I thought he was gonna pull my tail off…”

“You just gotta get stronger like Mama and Papa.”

“And like you,” Yukhei smiles.

“I’ll always protect you, Hei. Don’t worry,” Mark smiles and pulls a frog out of his pocket.

“You caught one!” Yukhei grins and pets a finger over the frog’s head. The frog croaks in Mark’s fist.

“Yeah. Do you think Ma will like it?”

Yukhei nods enthusiastically and chuckles, “He’s gonna eat it in one bite.” Mark laughs aloud and then the brothers whip around when they hear twigs snapping and the rustle of leaves. Their father bursts through the jungle, skidding up to them.

“Mark! Yukhei! Are you ok?!” He kneels at their feet, looking them over.

They giggle and hug onto his arms. “We’re ok, Papa,” Mark smiles, nuzzling his face into his shoulder.

Taeyong frowns and presses his mouth and nose to the top of their heads, between furry little ears. “I heard you crying.”

Yukhei smiles, climbing up onto his back until he’s sitting on his shoulders. “I tripped, but I’m ok, Papa!”

“You sure?” Taeyong purrs, his worries easing down as Yukhei grabs his ears and pets his little fingers over the white dots, as Mark curls up against his chest, his little tail wrapping around his arm, his ears tickle his chin.

“Carry me!” Mark grins up at him and bounces where he stands.

Taeyong smiles and cradles Mark in his arms before standing slowly. Both his babies giggle giddily, hanging onto him. He makes sure Mark is comfortable and Yukhei is secure on his shoulders before heading back towards their spot by the stream. Yukhei hugs onto his head, still grabbing onto his ears, and Mark looks on straight ahead, his little ears swiveling back and forth, listening to the random birds chirping in the trees and to the barely audible sounds of the town, people going about their day.

When they arrive, Mark and Yukhei slide off, and giggle with glee as their father shifts and plops down onto his side with a thunderous huff. They clamber close to him. 

Their father is huge, bigger than their mother. Yukhei shifts and chuffs against Taeyong’s jaw before curling up under his neck, between his arms. Mark wants to shift too but he’ll end up losing the frog he caught if he does, so he settles on sitting beside Taeyong and leaning against his side, nuzzling his face into his fur. He giggles when he rises and falls against his side with his father’s breathing.

Mark smiles, feels the vibrations of his father purring, and lays his head against him, looking towards the stream, still trickling by. The sun shines on the waters, throwing bright lights he has to squint against and warming his skin. Birds call overhead and insects chitter in the grass. He yawns, being lulled to sleep by all the sounds. 

The next thing he knows he’s being carried, swayed side to side. He yawns and squints his eyes open to see his father, who smiles and kisses his forehead, “Good morning, Markie.”

He rubs his fists into his eyes, “W… Where’s Mama?”

“Right here, baby.”

He turns his head to see his mother walking ahead with his brother piggy-backing. He digs in his pocket and draws out the frog, all dry now and immobile. He frowns, wishing it were still alive. “Mama, I got you this.”

Ten stops in his tracks, grinning when he sees the frog, “Oh! My favorite! Thank you, baby!” Mark giggles giddily, watches as his mother devours the little green thing in one bite, the webbed feet disappearing between his red lips. “Delicious! Nice and sun-dried!”

Yukhei, Mark, and Taeyong all giggle and laugh at Ten’s theatrics, continuing on their way through the jungle to their home. Taeyong sets Mark down once within the stone boundaries. The cub runs ahead towards the entrance of their home. Yukhei slides off Ten’s back, watching his brother speed off, and follows after him. The sun is beginning to set behind their temple.

Ten purrs when he feels his mate’s arms around his waist, hugging him from behind. Taeyong nuzzles into the crook of his neck. “How’d it go?” He mumbles into his skin, exposed from the low collar of his shirt.

“Not good, my love. Not good.”

Taeyong purrs and presses a kiss to the nape of his neck. They step through the vines into the dark corridors of their home. They follow the happy squeaky roars of their kids to their room, a hidden place at the heart of the temple.

“Ma!”

“Mama!”

“Alright, alright, I hear you. Let me get comfortable at least,” Ten sighs, rolling his shoulders with a small smile. Taeyong walks off towards an opening in their room, leading out into a small garden with a shaded pond and a playing field of dirt, all made by him. Ten oversaw all the improvements to their home, but Taeyong did the labor. 

Ten shrugs off his shirt, folding it and setting it aside before sitting against a makeshift chair of vines, cushioning his back and bum from the hard stone floor. Yukhei and Mark climb into his lap and Ten begins the task of bathing them, licking over their tufts of hair and fur, ears and tails, and combing through, cleaning them of any bugs or dust that decided to hitch a ride. The cubs purr the whole time, leaning into their mother and also poking at each other teasingly. Digging into each other’s armpits and ribs before their mother huffs in exasperation and they quit, smiling as they lean back against him.

Taeyong comes back from their garden with their dinner for the night, held in a wide blade of banana leaf. Ten smiles, sniffling the air, “Pork and rice? You really do know how to spoil me.”

“The deer had a little leftover from their crops and offered me some the other day.”

“You sure you didn’t scare them into giving you any?”

Taeyong’s eyes go wide, “N-No!! At least, I don’t think I scared them. Do you think I did? I have to go apologize tomorrow!”

Ten grins. “I think if you did scare them, they would’ve let you know—” he pats Yukhei and Mark’s sides—“There you go. All clean, babies.”

Yukhei and Mark stand, pressing little wet kisses to Ten’s cheeks before turning and running off towards the pond and the fire where Taeyong cooked, sticking twigs into the embers to play as the world grows darker, the sky alight in dark purple and dusty orange. Taeyong purrs, holding their plate as they eat, scooping up rice and bits of pork in their fingers.

“Our neighbors to the north are moving,” Ten murmurs.

“The humans?”

Ten nods, “The chief’s son was out patrolling and he spotted a whole troop of humans coming our way. They stopped at the river, but they’re definitely coming here. We don’t know if they have weapons or not, but it wouldn’t be a reach to say they do.”

“But they’ve never come out this far?” Taeyong holds their plate steady as Ten scoops up the last of the rice.

“No. Not in a long time they haven’t. We’re not sure what they want, but Sungchan will be leading the defense and offense efforts should it come to that.”

“He’s a bearer?”

“No… but his mother trusts him and that’s good enough.”

In their village and in lots of other hybrid communities, it’s believed that testosterone hinders judgement and so all the decisions are left to mothers and bearers. Every family in This Place is headed by the one who gave birth to the children. The fathers do well to listen and obey.

Taeyong neatly folds the banana leaf into a square, careful that none of the pork grease dribbles out. “Will we be needed?”

“You might,” Ten glances up at him and cups his cheek. “Should the humans attack, the chief will want your help defending, helping the families closest to the edge of the village.”

Taeyong purrs and nuzzles his cheek into Ten’s palm, “I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will,” Ten smiles, leaning up to nuzzle their noses together. He chuckles to himself when he feels the shivers run through his mate. After all this time, he still gets the same cute reaction out of him. He pats the space between his legs, “It’s your turn, Tae.”

Taeyong smiles, cheeks turning pink as he crawls forward, settling between Ten’s legs. Ten undoes the thread holding Taeyong’s hair up and sets it aside to run his fingers through the blond strands. Taeyong purrs and stays still as Ten cleans his hair and the fur of his ears. He does so quietly, listening to the night and to his cubs, squeaking and play-growling.

“What will you be doing?” Taeyong murmurs.

“The chief thinks the humans will be coming for one of two things: either for the relics of this temple or for us. She talks with the other hybrid villages. A few have been lost to the human’s greed. Pillaged their homes and stole them.”

“Stole them?”

Ten glances over at where Mark is twirling a twig in the air, leaving streaks of ember in the dark of night while Yukhei watches with a wide grin. “They steal people,” he whispers, “They steal hybrids and we don’t know what they do to them. We’re a rare breed so the chief thinks it would be wise for me to take Mark and Yukhei and go south. I’ll hide out there if they attack.”

They both know that’s the best course of action even if it pains them to be apart, and especially if they don’t know if they’ll see each other again. So much is at stake… but above all, their goal is the same: keep their cubs safe and stay alive.

“I’ll go and meet up with Sungchan tomorrow.”

Ten sits up, patting Taeyong’s back to let him know he’s done, “We’re going to be alright, I swear to you.”

Taeyong turns around and presses his forehead to Ten’s, squeezing his eyes shut to focus on his steady breathing, his lilted purr, “I love you, Tenie.”

“I love you more. Help me get ready?” He kisses him and pats his cheeks again. Taeyong hums and walks out to the garden, tossing the banana leaf away, before calling for his kids to come back in. Ten waits for Taeyong and then leans back when he seats himself behind him. His cubs haven’t had their dinner yet. Mark and Yukhei come running, climbing onto his lap again, latching onto his chest for milk. They knead at his stomach as they suckle, purring softly.

Taeyong runs his fingers through his mate’s hair and licks over his ears, cleaning him. Ten purrs, strokes his hands over his cubs’ heads as they eat. 

They have plenty of time to worry about the humans tomorrow, tonight they’ll celebrate their unity and freedom. Mark stares up at him with wide eyes, blinking a few times, new stars appearing in their brown every time. Yukhei, on the other hand, keeps his eyes shut, relaxing completely until he’s dead weight.

“You’d think they’d cancel the festival cause of that,” Taeyong murmurs when he’s done.

Ten chuckles, “No. The chief is wise. She knows not to show weakness. She’s done good for This Place ever since I was a cub. I trust her and her judgement. Anyway, Doie has our outfits, right?”

“Yes.”

“Perfect.”

Mark finishes eating first, yawning and rolling off of his mother’s lap. “Can we have more honeys?”

“No. But you can have some sugarcane.”

Mark pouts at his parents, making his eyes all wide, but their stance on candy before bed remains. 

Ten glances down at Yukhei and cradles him, petting his ears softly. “Baby, you won’t have space for other treats if you keep eating.”

Yukhei whines petulantly and curls into himself, hiding his face away against his mother’s chest and balling his fists so they rest on either side of his head. Ten pats his back and jostles him slightly, making his cub whine again when he unlatches with the movement.

“Maamaaaaaaa,” Yukhei sniffles. “I’m still hungry.”

“You can eat more later. You need to get ready.” Ten sits up, passing Yukhei to Taeyong over his head. Yukhei pouts as his father takes him into his arms and hugs him. 

“I promise to get you all the snacks you want.”

“Even jicama?”

“Especially jicama.”

Yukhei smiles at that and watches as his mother dresses his brother into a white tunic with blue and orange colored pebbles stitched onto the shoulders in a pattern like stripes. Mark notices him watching and grins, lifting the long hem to reveal his brown shorts still on underneath. They both giggle when their mother murmurs in annoyance and lowers the tunic again so it rests over Mark’s knees. Their mother dons a matching tunic except his is open along the front like a robe with golden stones lining the edges.

“One day this one will be yours, baby,” he hears his mother whisper to Mark.

They look pretty. He wants to touch the shiny pebbles. His father gets up and returns with their outfits. A simple pair of matching shorts with patches of red and black striped cloth on the thighs. He helps him put them on, supporting himself with a hand on his shoulder as he carefully puts in one leg and then the other into his shorts. He crosses his arms over his bare chest as his father dresses into his shorts too.

“Papa.”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Do you think I could have a shirt like Mark’s?”

“You can if you want one, but don’t you wanna match with me? See, we have the same clothes.”

Yukhei smiles when his Papa crouches in front of him. He traces the faint stripes on his father, slightly darker than the rest of his skin. His mother’s stripes are slightly lighter than his skin. He wonders if he’ll get dark or light stripes. “When will my stripes come out?”

“Once you grow a little bigger they’ll show up.”

“You two ready?” Ten asks, holding Mark’s hand.

“Yes, Mama,” Yukhei smiles.

The family of four makes their way out of their temple and back towards the village. They can hear the cheers and laughter, the smell of food is up in the air. Torches light the main center, the heart of the village and the festival. The chief and her son are making their rounds, enjoying the festivities with their people, regal in their gold capes.

Ten grins when he sees his best friend and leads his family over to his. “Hi!”

“Hey! Your outfits are in there whenever y’all are ready,” Doyoung says, hugging him warmly and then gesturing over his shoulder at his stone and adobe home. 

“You’ll watch my babies for me, right?”

“Yeah, yeah—” Doyoung chuckles, gesturing at where his 8 children are all excitedly chattering with their tiger cousins—“I don’t think they’ll be going anywhere anytime soon.”

Ten smiles, “Any clue when we’re set?”

“Jae’s finding out for us.”

One of Doyoung’s kids, with adorable floppy ears like his, pulls on his shirt, “Mommy, can we go buy some sugarcane with Mark and Hei?”

“Ok, but be back quick.”

The children cheer and turn to go find the stall. Mark and Yukhei look up at Ten and then grin when he gestures for them to go. They run to catch up with their bunny cousins. Moments after, Doyoung’s mate comes jogging up to them, ears standing straight up on his head, embracing both Ten and Taeyong in greeting. “Hi! Hi!”

“Hi, Jaehyun. You look well,” Ten smiles, patting his back.

“Thank you,” he blushes and smooths his hands over his shorts.

“So when are we on?”

“The chief is going to give a small speech and then the band will play our anthem. You’ll be after that.”

“Great!” Ten claps his hands, and just as he does, a horn blows, grabbing everyone’s attention to where the chief has risen to her dais, her son at her side. Ten grabs Taeyong’s hand and whispers to Doyoung, “We’re gonna go ahead and get ready.”

Doyoung nods, “Ok, Jae put your outfits there on our bed.”

  
  


Mark and Yukhei watch as their cousins fight over sugarcane sticks, bickering over who gets how much. They’re wise enough to stay out of their squabble. Mark nudges Yukhei’s side, “Hei.” Yukhei gives him his stick and takes his, peeling the tough skin off with his teeth and spitting it aside before giving it back to his brother. Mark smiles wide, “Thanks!”

The adults all around them suddenly come to a standstill and their cousins quiet their arguing, gesturing for them to follow. They smile and follow behind them through the throngs of adults back to their uncles. The two tall bunnies are standing side by side at the edge of a circle and then gesture for them to sit as a band at the other end of the circle, beside the platform where the leaders of their village sit, plays a song with fast-paced drum thumps and flutes. Like an animal running, escaping to freedom. It’s the anthem of hybrids all over the world. There are no words to the song because the moment they gained independence was indescribable, or so their mother taught them.

Mark smiles tapping his hand against his brother’s thigh in time with the song. Yukhei smiles slightly, digging a small hole in the ground in front of them for their sugarcane trash. They chew on the sweet stringy stalk and then place the chewed pieces in the hole like their parents taught them. The song comes to an end and all the hybrids of the village seem to shout in one voice, one loud cry for the victory of their ancestors. Yukhei yells all squeaky-like and Mark giggles before joining his brother, letting out a squeak of his own.

The crowd falls hush as a different tune begins. A slower song with drums and flutes and rattles. They play rhythmically, the drum so thunderous it shakes the very air around them. It resounds in time with their collective heartbeat.

Yukhei pats Mark’s arm and points towards the shadows just outside the light of the fire. Their mother is standing there, hidden away. “Mama.”

Mark smiles and looks towards the opposite end, patting Yukhei’s arm excitedly. “Papa too!”

They both step into the light and the whole crowd murmurs in awe at their appearance. Their mother has his hair brushed away from his face, the left side cascading over his eye. He wears a long white dress shirt with a short sky blue silk sabai over his left shoulder, tied near his waist, and black pants that fall to just below his shins. Both the pants and the sabai have golden leaves and flowers embroidered on them. Their father has his hair tied back with a few strands braided. He wears a black crop top and pants that come to his knees, both are embroidered with the same golden flowers and leaves to match with their mother’s.

Ten slowly walks towards the center, hands on his hips, and Taeyong inches close, crouched to the floor until he’s kneeling at his mate’s feet, tail low to the ground and ears perked. Ten spares him one glance. Their eyes meet and the dance begins. Ten helps Taeyong up till he’s standing straight and they begin to step in time with the drums, circling one another before breaking out into kicks and hops in time with each other, even their tails are moving in sync. They smile wide as they dance.

The crowd claps along to the beat and hoots and hollers as their dance grows faster, back and forth around the circle, hand in hand. Mark grins and Yukhei watches with wide eyes, still chewing away at his sugarcane. They remember watching their parents practice every once in a while and they remember the days when their father would stay home to work on those outfits, making them from scratch all by himself.

The dance comes to an end, Ten and Taeyong face each other with two final stamps on the ground, their chests rising and falling. The village erupts into applause and they smile, bowing first towards where the chief sits, clapping and grinning, and then towards the crowd. They walk out of the spotlight of the great fire to join the crowd. The music starts up again behind them, opening up the floor for everyone else to dance to their heart’s content.

Mark and Yukhei can’t help their excitement, standing and running up to their parents. 

“Ma! Pa! That was amazing!”

Ten grins and picks Mark up, carrying him on his hip. “Did you like it, baby?”

“Mhm!”

Taeyong smiles and carries Yukhei cradled in his arms, the half-eaten sugarcane still in his grasp. “It was pretty,” Yukhei grins.

“That’s cause your Mama came up with it.”

“Ah, Yongie!” Ten smiles so wide.

Doyoung and Jaehyun are waiting to congratulate them on a beautiful performance. Then their parents go back into their house to change and when they come back, their families continue to enjoy the rest of the festival. Mark and Yukhei don’t stay awake long after that and their family retires for the night.

Back at their temple home, Taeyong helps undress Mark and Yukhei back into their regular shorts and Ten removes his shirt, letting himself fall into their bed. He lays on his side when Mark and Yukhei yawn and shift to curl up in his arms, he feels Taeyong lay down behind him. Yukhei immediately starts eating again, but it isn’t long before he falls asleep and when he does, Ten rolls onto his back.

Taeyong scoots closer, holding himself up on a forearm to look down at him. “What’s bothering you, my love?” He whispers, tracing the lines of smooth muscles and dips, the faint stripes on Ten’s skin with his free hand.

“I’ve got a bad feeling… Promise you’ll be careful tomorrow?”

“I promise to come back to you no matter what. I’d be lost without you, Tenie,” Taeyong shifts his gaze to their cubs’ small sleeping forms.

Ten follows his eyes, “They’re gonna be ok. I won’t let anything happen to them.”

Taeyong leans down, pressing his face to Ten’s shoulder. “I’m so thankful for you, for our babies…”

Ten hugs him close, presses kisses to the top of his head. He knows Taeyong is scared, and that he would give up his own life before letting any harm come to their children; after all, his own father was taken from him by humans. Taeyong’s mother was an important figure in his village and wasn’t home often so his father raised him. Then one day, an angry mob of humans went and took their anger out on the village. Taeyong’s family was targeted and in the end, he and his mother were the only ones to survive. But the same thing won’t happen to their family, Ten will make sure of that.

“Rest, Tae. We’ll be ok and then when the humans are gone, we can work on giving Mark and Yukhei more siblings, hm?”

Taeyong giggles softly and presses a kiss to his shoulder before laying down on his side. Ten purrs and turns back over, letting his mate spoon him. He draws Mark and Yukhei closer into his arms and finally lets sleep drag him under.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be updating weekly and hopefully I'll have it done before we get too far. Unfortunately, college has been eating up all my time, but I've been writing whenever I can. Lol I might just upload all of my WIPs before I get anything done though.  
> Oh and in case y'all wanted to know. Ten is a Malayan tiger and Taeyong is a Siberian tiger. lol  
> I hope y'all liked this and let me know what y'all think :)
> 
> As always, stay safe, stay healthy. There's a lot of struggle in the world, everywhere people are doing what they can for what they believe in. I know y'all are doing y'all's best too and if anyone hasn't told you then I'm here to say: I'm proud of you. There's no one else quite like you. You are courageous and defiant and that is enough. And I'm always here cheering for you, no matter what. Love y'all! <3
> 
> [that one blue bird app](https://twitter.com/greyquill8) and [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/Greyquill8)


	2. Chapter 2

Ten wakes up as he would any other day, morning light streams into the room from small cutouts in the stone, warming his skin where it touches. Taeyong is gone, but he can smell his breakfast waiting for him on the small stone table in the corner of the room, wrapped up in a banana leaf. His mate is always up with the sun and out by the time he wakes up. He’s probably with Sungchan. His cubs are still fast asleep beside him, Yukhei shifted in his sleep and is curled close to his chest, which is now sticky with slobber. The source seems to be Yukhei’s little pouting mouth. Mark is laid out beside his brother, flicking his ears to keep a pesky fly away.

A loud boom and the smell of smoke wakes him completely. He sits up and Mark lets out an annoyed growl as he lifts his head, facing the same direction as his mother. Ten stands slowly and motions to Mark, “Stay there, baby.”

Mark shifts as he sits up, rubbing his hands into his eyes. “Mama?”

Ten jogs out of the room and Mark slowly stands, following, growing more awake with every step he takes. Ten stops in a room at the southern end and peers out through an opening in the wall. Mark stops beside him, looking through another crack. The jungle of green they’re so used to seeing is now burning. They see humans, wielding swords and guns, shouting to each other as they add fuel to the fire. They weren’t supposed to be out here. It’s a trap.

“Ma, what are they doing? Why are they starting a fire?”

Ten glances down at Mark, fear creeping into his veins. He crouches, taking his cub’s face into his hands, “Baby, follow me. We have to get to the village. Stay close—”

“M-Ma, I don’t—”

“—No matter what happens, you keep your eyes on me and you follow, ok, baby? We need to get out of here. I know you can do it, you’re brave, you’re my brave little cub. Understand?” 

Mark is confused. He’s never heard his mother like this. Serious and worried. He must be scared because of those people burning the jungle. “Yes, Mama.”

“Good,” Ten kisses his forehead and stands. “Let’s go.” He shifts like his mother and follows behind him as they run back to their room. Yukhei is waking up, whining softly as he sits up slowly.

“Ma?”

Ten licks his forehead and Yukhei instinctively shifts, allowing his mother to pick him up by his neck. He glances back at Mark, making sure he’s still there, and leaps out of the room into the garden. 

Mark follows the best he can, following behind his mother as they climb, hopping from rock to rock until they’ve come up on top of the temple. He can still hear the people shouting behind them and tries not to stumble as he follows his mother over roots and stone until they’ve descended the temple and are back on the jungle floor.

His mother runs ahead through trees and bushes of wide-leaves and Mark follows. He has a hard time keeping up, but he never loses sight of his mother’s tail. When they reach the stream, they hear more commotion and the smell of smoke and burning is heavy in the air. Shouts and shrieks of fear. Mark dives to duck beneath his mother’s body and nuzzles up against one of his legs, bigger than all of him. He doesn’t understand what’s going on, but he doesn’t like it.

Ten stands frozen. The humans are attacking from both ends, north and south. He needs to get as far as he can. His babies will be hurt. He hopes his best friend is okay. He hopes Taeyong is okay wherever he is and growls in his throat for Mark to keep up. Mark mewls and bounds after him as they run adjacent to the stream, twigs and leaves crunching under their paws. The water trickles closer to the eastern side of the village. Here, hybrids are running for their lives. The trees disperse into a field and if they can cross it to the jungle, they’ll be safe. Ten leaps the stream and makes for the field, crossing it in seconds, he never notices that Mark is no longer behind him.

Mark cries and mewls for his mother at the tree line, just before the field. His paw stuck in a tangle of wild grass and vines at the base of a tree. The piglet that was messing with Yukhei and his family are squealing as they run past him from the village, but they don’t make it far. There’s a succession of loud bangs and they collapse. Mark keeps crying, hoping his mother will hear him and come back, but the shouts are drowning him out. He looks around, body low to the ground, and shifts, sitting there in his human form to try and pull the tangles around his foot off, and then he hears a click. He looks up to see a person coming close with a long piece of silver in their arms, pointed right at him. He cries out again, shifts and curls into a ball, making himself as small as possible to keep away from the stranger.

A thunderous roar resounds and the human yells as they’re taken down by a tiger twice their size. Mark mewls, recognizing his father. Taeyong growls, letting go of the immobilized man to sniff his cub over. His father grabs a mouthful of the vines around his paw and rips them up from the ground. Their hold on him loosens immediately and Mark presses his head to Taeyong’s jaw. He curls up when his father picks him up.

“Tiger! Tiger!”

“There’s a tiger! Tell the hunter!”

Taeyong runs into the thick of trees, a growl reverberating in his chest as he tries to get his cub as far away as possible. He wonders where Ten and Yukhei are, and the thought of losing them terrifies him. It terrifies him enough that he doesn’t see the glint of a rifle before it’s too late. 

Mark yelps as another bang resounds and his father stumbles, landing in the dirt. He’s thrown as his father crashes onto his side and stays like that. He shifts and crawls closer, pressing his hands to his father’s shoulder, shaking him. “Papa? Papa, get up. We gotta get to Ma and Yukhei.”

His father lays motionless, doesn’t even blink or speak. Mark presses the side of his head to his body and grips his fur tight in his hands when he doesn’t hear anything. “Papa,” he cries. “ _Please, Papa. Wake up._ ” His chest hurts with fear even as sobs rack through him, tears streak his cheeks and he cuddles close, hiding between his father’s huge arms. He doesn’t know what’s going on or where his mother and brother are. He hears another click and gasps, shifting to hide and blend in with his father’s fur.

  
  


The hunter approaches, a rifle held in his hands, aiming down the sight in case the tiger he shot isn’t dead, but when the tiger remains motionless, he aims the gun away, slinging it over his shoulder. The fur on this one will fetch a high price, but he’s not particularly interested in that. He doesn’t need any more money. Miniscule movement draws his attention and he cocks his head, crouching to see what it is moving around.

“Johnny! Did you get it?!”

He looks over his shoulder to see his guide come running, holding his own rifle. He slows his run as he sees the massive tiger laid out on its side.

“Let the others know. He mauled one of the men, find out if they’re ok, and let me know. Tigers are worth a lot in this area, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And bring me a cage, will you? One of the small ones.”

“Yes, sir!”

His guide goes running off back into the jungle and Johnny turns back around to observe the little cub still trying to blend in with the dead tiger. He strokes his hand over the tiger’s belly, sifting through the fur. This must be the cub’s father.

The rest of their entourage come to tie up the tiger and in turn give him congratulatory pats on the back. He doesn’t like it, not one bit. This whole trip was a waste of time. His guide, Jungwoo, gives him the cage and he picks the small tiger cub up by the scruff of its neck and stuffs it in. The cub stares at all of them wide-eyed and hisses, baring its teeth.

“Am I needed here any longer?” He asks Jungwoo.

“No, we’ve looked through the rest of the village. We got reports that there were two tigers, the other one must’ve gotten away.”

Johnny hums and hands Jungwoo the cage. “Let’s get out of here then.”

Jungwoo looks down at the cub, hissing in its cage and shudders, hurrying to follow after Johnny. “What are you going to do with _this_ one?”

“I think I’ll keep it.”

Mark tries to escape, biting at the bamboo bars of his cage. He doesn’t understand a word of what these people are saying. They have no ears, no tails, and no sharp teeth or eyes indicative of their species. They’re monsters. His Papa is gone and his mother is hiding somewhere with his brother and he’s all alone. There’s a bunch of monsters and they’re all hollering at each other and talking as they march through the jungle to some unknown destination. He wants to be with his Mama.

The caravan comes to rest as the sun is reaching its highest point in the sky. Johnny sighs, wiping a rag wet with his own sweat over the nape of his neck. The sooner he’s out of this heat, the better. Jungwoo is standing by their cart, thumbing through a ledger. He looks a bit out of place with his fancy beige pants, button-up, and hat, whilst everyone else dons simple pants and tank tops.

“Woo—” he gestures at the bamboo cage—“Bring me our little friend.”

Jungwoo stuffs his ledger in his satchel. He undoes the cage door and grabs the cub by his armpits. The cub hisses and growls, baring his teeth. Jungwoo grimaces and holds him at arm’s length, carrying him over to Johnny. “Monstrous thing. You’re gonna catch something.”

Johnny shakes his head and takes the cub, setting him down on his lap. “You worry too much.” The cub backpedals trying to get out of his hold, but he’s got a good grip on him. “You hungry?” He asks, petting a hand over the cub’s head. The cub growls and snarls loudly, though it sounds really squeaky. “You’re a shifter too, hm? I don’t think you understand what I’m saying though. Do you?”

The cub snarls and bites onto his hand, the crook between his thumb and index finger, when he tries to pet him again. Johnny smiles. His teeth are sharp but they’re not even puncturing his skin. He shakes his hand and the cub growls, hanging onto it. “I was like you once. Angry at everything—” he removes his hand from the cub’s mouth, grabs a small silver canister from his shirt pocket, pops it open with his thumb, and holds up one of the creamy yellow candies to the cub’s mouth—“Look, want some? These are my favorite. Honey-flavored.”

The cub sniffles the pellet and then takes a tentative lick. All the anger seems to dissipate from the striped little creature as he fights to take the candy from Johnny’s fingers. Johnny chuckles and lets him have it, “Don’t choke on it.” The cub is probably the cutest thing he’s ever seen, and he wonders if he’s just as cute in his human form. He does feel bad for killing his father, but he’ll make up for it by raising the cub himself. He’s a tiger hunter, so he’s probably the best person for this kind of task. 

Tiger hunting is his family’s business and he didn’t really have the choice of opting out as the only son. He was hired by the town to handle the tigers in the hybrid village, but that’s as far as his services would go. He wasn’t going to murder children. And now that he finds himself with the one thing his family loathes, he wants to do his best to help the cub.

The tiger finishes the candy and licks at his fingers, chasing remnants of the honey. Johnny chuckles and scratches his chin and neck where the white tuft of beard surrounds his striped and dotted face. The cub grumbles in its throat and bites at his index finger, alternating between suckling and nibbling. Johnny’s heart flips and he holds the cub closer to his torso.

“Johnny, we’re moving now,” Jungwoo calls.

“Alright.” He puts his candy canister back in his shirt pocket and stands, carrying the cub cradled in his arms. The cub mewls and sniffs at the canister, batting his little paws at it to get it out. “Careful, you’ll rip my shirt.” He hops back onto his cart with Jungwoo, who idles to the other side of the bench, away from him and the tiger cub. “Wanna hold him?”

Jungwoo wrinkles his nose disdainfully and looks away, “I’d rather not hold a man-killer.”

Johnny smiles and pets over the cub’s head again. “Does he look like a man-killer to you? He’s just a little baby.” The cub growls in his throat and keeps trying to get the canister. Johnny gives the cub another candy and some water from his canteen as they continue on their way. A smile is permanent on his lips even when the cub shifts to take the canteen from him and gulp water down, holding the metal up with his arms raised over his head, tilted back to rest on Johnny’s shoulder. Little shorts are all he wears and his tummy is round as it should be, his parents took good care of him, he’ll try and do the same. He’s so cute, but he shifts again before Johnny can try and communicate with him. 

They go back towards the town, or so he thought. He looks up in surprise when their caravan marches through into a small village instead of the town he came from. “Jungwoo, what is this?”

Jungwoo shrugs. “Detour, I guess.”

The peoples of the village cheer and holler as they pass through huts and adobe homes to the main area. Johnny doesn’t understand why until he sees them gathering to look at the dead tiger tied to a bamboo shaft. Their caravan comes to a stop before a grand wooden home. A man comes up beside their cart, talking to Jungwoo in the native language and gesturing at Johnny. Jungwoo nods and then turns to him. “The chief of this village would like to speak to you.”

Johnny shakes his head and holds onto his tiger cub, who’s starting to get antsy again, mewling and trying to get out of his arms. “I really don’t have time for this, Jungwoo.”

“I don’t think you have a choice. This is the chief’s son,” his guide gestures at the man standing beside them.

Johnny meets his eyes. They’re serious but somehow hold a carefree glint to them. And he has to admit that he is handsome, beautiful even.

The man smiles, “Please, hunter. My father would like to thank you.”

He’s surprised to hear him speaking English and he can’t really refuse when he’s right in front of the chief’s home. “Alright.” 

And that’s how he finds himself before an old man probably in his 60s, wearing a beret with old war medals hanging from it. His tiger cub is on the floor beside him tied to his stool, grumbling as he busies himself with another candy.

The old man speaks, his voice is like rusted strings on a fiddle, grating on the ears, and his son translates for him. “My father says he is very grateful to you for killing our village’s enemy. To honor you, he offers passage through our home and welcomes you to rest here for the night in exchange for the tiger.”

Johnny smiles and hopes that’s all the chief called him here for but then his eyes keep darting down to look at his cub. “I’d be honored to stay, but I’m afraid I’ll have to refuse. He’s welcome to have the tiger skin, of course.”

The old man speaks, a shit-eating grin on his lips. “He says he’d like to keep it alive.”

“Oh no, I meant the dead one,” he gestures over his shoulder.

The old man speaks up once more and laughs heartily. “He says he welcomes both tigers and thanks you once again for your service.”

“No, I don’t think—”

Just then a commotion is heard outside. People chattering and the honks and rumbling engines of automobiles. Johnny looks over his shoulder and curses under his breath to see it’s the police. “Just… Just a second,” he holds up a finger and walks out of the hut as one of the cops approaches the tiger he shot. From his uniform alone, he can tell he’s a high-ranking one. “Captain! How can I help you?”

The officer turns to him, looks him up and down. “Sergeant Shotaro. 1st district. What do I see here?”

“Handsome man in a safari outfit,” he gestures at himself with a tight smile. Shotaro smiles, but it’s clear he’s not amused.

“I see a dead tiger. Now unless you have a hunting license given to you by this country, I request you show me your hands.”

“No, I do. My guide has it—” he looks around, searching for Jungwoo in his funny outfit and then nearly facepalms whenever the guide is nowhere to be seen. Of course, he’d run off right when he needs him—“He _did_ have it.”

Shotaro scoffs and brings out a pair of handcuffs. The village people, who gathered to watch, all murmur, instigating and chuckling to themselves. Johnny sighs and presents his hands, letting the officer cuff him. He looks towards the chief’s home where the tiger cub is mewling, staring right at him as he pulls against the rope tied around his neck. “I’ll be back for you,” he mouths, hopes the tiger understands, and follows behind the officer as he leads him to his police truck.

As they pass through the crowd, a young boy, missing a leg and leaning on a crutch, removes his necklace and presses it into his hands. The chief’s son walks up beside the boy. “He gives you this charm to thank you. He lost his leg to a tiger—” Johnny hops into the back of the truck and sits as the Sergeant heads up to the front—“It will bring you luck.” The chief’s son smiles encouragingly. 

Johnny can’t help and smile back. “Looks like I’ll need it.”

  
  


Mark watches as the nice monster with the honeys leaves in the back of that black truck. He cries and mewls for him to come back. And then thinks maybe he doesn’t understand what he’s saying in this form. He doesn’t get the chance to change as the rope around his neck is suddenly tightened. He strains against it as an older monster pulls him to the side.

The old monster is approached by a different monster in nice clothes. They speak and pieces of colorful paper are exchanged between them. The old monster bows and the one in the uniform leaves. He doesn’t like this. He shifts and feels on the string around his neck. His hands find the knot and he tries undoing it with the old monster’s back to him. But then he turns around and gasps, yelling something that Mark doesn’t understand.

“Ma! Mama!” He can still see the jungle, maybe his mother will hear him! He’ll rescue him and everything will be ok!

The old man draws out a revolver strapped to his waist and presses it against the hybrid’s head. The hybrid looks up at him with wide-eyes, terrified.

“Taeil!”

“Yes, father?” His son comes up the steps into the hut and looks at the hybrid child in surprise. A tiny thing in shorts. He’d almost pass as human if he didn’t have those stripped little ears and tail, if his canine teeth weren’t so glaringly obvious when he mewls and hisses.

“Call the circus. Tell them we have a little friend that will be of great use to them. And find someone to sell that dead tiger to. I don’t want it. Hybrids are bad luck.”

“Yes, father.” Taeil watches as the chief exchanges the rope around the cub’s neck for a chain, tying him to one of the posts in their home. The cub keeps growling but doesn’t try to escape with the gun pressed against his head.

…

Ten cursed himself up and down the entire time he hid with Yukhei in that cavern along the ravine. He’d lost Mark. And he wanted to run back and find his little cub, but he couldn’t leave Yukhei all on his own, not when he was crying the hardest he’s ever cried and holding onto him like he’d disappear forever if he let go for even a millisecond. He could only lay there and wait and trust that his mate would find their cub and whisk him away to safety.

They didn’t move for hours. They didn’t move until the sun was beginning to touch the horizon off behind the jungle. He shifted and let Yukhei ride on his back as he ran back towards their village. His little arms secure around his neck and his face pressed to his fur. Their home was up in plumes of smoke, their people were mourning all those they lost to lead. 

Graves are being dug when he shifts, walking into the village, the chief’s son overseeing it all. He approaches the deer hybrid, and he looks up, somehow still as majestic looking as always with his yellow cape, pinned on one shoulder, and the little stubs of antlers poking through his hair. Ten’s heart sinks when his eyes widen and then look away, back to the grave being dug. Ten swallows down his emotions and keeps his chin held high, hefting Yukhei up on his back a little higher. His son keeps his face pressed to the nape of his neck. “Please tell me my mate is somewhere helping,” he says when he’s close enough.

Sungchan looks down and shakes his head, pointed ears flat on his head. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs softly, doesn’t offer anything else besides that.

His heart pounds, splintering with every thud. His limbs are paralyzed, all efforts are moved to his chest where shock presides, his lungs quicken their pace to make sure he’s alive, but if Taeyong is gone, then he might as well be dead.

“Ten!” A familiar voice calls him and he turns around.

“Doie…”

His best friend beckons him close and lets him sink into his arms, hugging him tight. “I’m so glad you’re ok,” Doyoung whispers.

Ten hugs back after a moment, when some feeling returns to his body. He blinks until everything isn’t a blur and notices Doyoung’s family and his mate are safe and sound, all of them. “Me too… I’m glad you’re all ok too…”

Doyoung nods and makes him sit with his kittens. Jaehyun offers him a cup of water that he passes to his cub. Yukhei takes it and sips eagerly, staring back at his bunny cousins as they stare at him. Jaehyun distracts the kids as Ten and Doyoung turn to each other.

“Our home was burnt, but we were lucky to get away. A lot of people didn’t.”

“Did you see Taeyong?”

Doyoung nods and looks down, drawing a finger through the dirt, “He was helping a family of otters the last I saw him. And then we lost track of him…” He trails off and Ten grabs onto his arm.

“And? What happened? I know you know.”

Doyoung shakes his head and finally looks up, teary-eyed and chewing on his lip. 

Ten snorts and grins, “Don’t mess with me, Doie. Don’t tell me that…” His voice wobbles and cracks, composure breaking as the tears fall down Doyoung’s face. “D-Don’t.”

“I’m sorry, Ten. I’m so sorry.”

Ten bites onto his tongue till he tastes blood and looks up at the sky, orange and quickly turning purple and dark blue, exhaling to keep the tears making the colors muddled from falling. Doyoung grabs his hand and squeezes, lowering his voice to a whisper. “They have your other cub, Ten. Mark is still alive.”

_Mark!_

“One of the monkeys saw him being taken in a cage and headed back towards the human village.”

“Why didn’t you start with that?” Ten stands, sniffling and clearing his eyes with the back of his fist. “Can you watch Yukhei for me? I’ll be back before the sun rises.”

Doyoung nods, “He’s safe with us.”

“Thank you.”

Yukhei looks towards them when he hears his name. “Mama?”

“Baby, I need you to stay here with your uncle, ok? I’ll be back. I’m going to get your brother.”

Yukhei’s bottom lip wobbles and he sniffles. Ten leans down and chuffs against his forehead. “I’ll be back, baby.”

Doyoung hugs Yukhei, letting the cub nuzzle him as Ten shifts and stalks off into the jungle. His mate may be gone, but he’s not about to lose one of the cubs he gave him. He finds the humans stench and follows it. 

It isn’t till he’s found the dirt trodden path the caravan took that he hears twigs snapping behind him. He looks back, ready to fight, but is surprised to see his cub, hopping over roots to keep up with him.

“Yukhei!”

“Ma!”

“I told you to stay with Doyoung!”

Yukhei sniffles and hugs onto his waist, pressing his face to his stomach. “I’m sorry, Ma.”

Ten sighs and pets a hand over his head. “Ok… ok… We have to be quiet and careful. Stay close to me, baby.”

Yukhei nods and holds his mother’s hand, following him as they track the humans’ stench. Ten makes sure to be aware of everything, every sound as the world is plunged into darkness. His eyes adjust to the dark in seconds.

“Ma… I’m scared, Ma… Where’s Papa? And Mark?”

Ten feels a growl building in his chest and squeezes Yukhei’s hand. “I don’t know where your Papa is. But we’re gonna find Mark, okay?”

Yukhei looks up at him, a semi-permanent pout on his lips and tears streaking his cheeks, visible by the little moonlight streaming through the trees. Ten crouches in front of his cub and licks over the tear tracks till Yukhei’s smiling at the sensation of his barbed tongue. He purrs and Ten kisses his forehead. “We’re gonna get them back, baby, I promise.”

They both shift and Yukhei follows behind his mother as he walks out of the forest and onto another dirt path carved through. Ten sniffs at the earth, the stench of humans is seared onto the road. It’s because of the humans that his family is torn apart.

He hears a faint yowl towards the small human village. His cub! They sneak through the night to get to the edge of the village and stop just outside their crops. He calls into the night, baying softly. Yukhei stays back in the safety of the trees when he advances forward.

  
  


Mark sits up, his ears swivel towards the faint roars. “Mama!” He gets up and runs to the edge of the wooden platform, as far as his chain will allow. “Mama! Mama! I’m here, Mama!” His heart quickens its pace and his cries become desperate.

The old man, sitting not far from him, notices the cub’s suddenly lively behavior and gets up in a hurry, reaching for his trumpet to alert his people. “Tiger!”

  
  


A growl rumbles in Ten’s throat as a horn blows. There’s still a chance. He stalks low to the ground, sneaking forward but stops altogether when he hears the humans mobilizing. Shouts and the clatter of knives. Then he sees a wall of them quickly forming through the crops, all of them holding torches. Mark’s cries are faint behind their hollers but he hears him so clearly. There’s still a chance.

Fire lands not far from him. A torch thrown. He bares his teeth and growls, low and loud for them to hear. More torches are thrown, landing all around him. He has to save his baby!

Fire misses his face by centimeters. The torch landing between his paws. There’s no chance like this. He turns tail, back into the jungle, picking Yukhei up as he runs, in case the humans give chase.

  
  


Mark shifts and stands on his tippy-toes, more tears spilling over his cheeks. “ _M-Mama! Mama!_ ” The monsters are all holding weapons and making noise. His Mama won’t be able to get past them alone.

He chokes when the chain around his neck is yanked, pulling him back and away from the edge of the platform. He shifts and curls up as small as he can, little whines escaping him as he’s dragged. The old monster garbles something at him and then picks him up by the scruff of his neck. He yowls and hisses, swiping his paws at the monster just out of reach. He squeaks when he’s dumped into a wooden box.

The chain around his neck is loosened and removed, but before he can even make his escape a lid is placed over the box. There’s not enough space for him to shift and he butts his head against the lid, straining against it. Loud thunks above echo in his ears and the lid won’t budge. He’s trapped.

The bottom is lined with hay and there’s one small hole in the wood, allowing him a view out. The old monster has returned to his post, counting the colorful paper by the light of a candle. The sounds of the other monsters are faint and then die out when he can no longer keep his eyes open. Fatigue takes him before the rumbles of his empty stomach can.

In the morning, he finds more holes and slivers in the box to look out of as sunlight shines through. He’s hungry and missing his parents and his brother. He doesn’t get the chance to start crying again as voices talk overhead. He looks up to see the old monster grinning as he’s handed more of those colorful papers.

He squeaks when the box is lifted and sways on his legs, bumping into one of the walls and falling to his side. The box is tied down and then abandoned. He looks through the holes, but can’t tell what’s going on. He stands and then is knocked down again onto his side as a loud pop sounds. The village is left behind and he can see the jungle. His fears resurge and he cries and mewls.

  
  


Ten watches as the truck pulls away from the village and starts down a wider dirt road. The road that leads towards the human town in the north. Yukhei trots up beside him and mews. He’d answer him if his nerves weren’t on fire. He hears his cub’s cries and takes off running, chasing the truck down.

Mark sees his mother through the hole and claws at the box. “Mama! Mama!”

Ten growls and leaps up onto the flatbed, digging his claws into the box to hold himself steady as he bites and pulls at the ropes tying the box down. Mark mewls and cries inside. _He just has to get his baby out._

“Ma!”

“It’s ok, Mama’s here, baby. Mama’s gonna get you out.”

The truck suddenly starts swerving side to side and he growls in his throat as he tries to hang on. He shifts and desperately yanks at the ropes, burning his fingers as he simultaneously tries to hang on. The truck hits a pothole, jarring him.

Panic floods every cell in his body and then pain explodes all along his body. The air is knocked out of his lungs and rocks dig into his back and sides like a thousand needles, immobilizing him. The cries of his baby grow distant, desperate and as he slowly sits up, nursing the back of his head, checking for blood, the truck gets further and further away, leaving dust in its wake.

“Mark…”

Yukhei comes running up beside him and hugs onto his arm. “Are you ok, Ma?”

He’s not ok and his heart breaks completely. He’s lost his mate and his baby. He can’t stop the tears from falling this time and Yukhei follows his gaze to the distance where the truck is disappearing over the hill.

“Is Mark on there, Ma?”

His mother doesn’t answer, lowering his eyes to the ground as tears stream down his cheeks. Yukhei frowns and nuzzles his cheek against his mother’s until he starts crying too. His brother is gone and his father is missing.

Ten slowly stands. “Come, baby. Let’s go home…” He feels numb. He feels so numb. But he still has Yukhei, he still has one of his cubs, and he’s not going to lose him too.

“But, Ma…”

“What’s wrong, baby?” He crouches, smiles the best he can as he wipes away Yukhei’s tears.

“What about Mark? And Papa?”

He grits his teeth to keep from grimacing and lifts his baby as he stands. Yukhei hugs onto his neck.

“They’re gone, baby… It’s just you and me now…” He murmurs as he walks back into the jungle, ignoring the pain in his chest and the sting of the scrapes on his legs and arms. Yukhei sniffles and presses his face to his neck. The only thing he can do is hold his cub tight and get him to safety. 

Mother and son disappear into the jungle.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More angst for y'all lol im sorry. (not sorry)  
> Hope y'all are liking it so far!
> 
> Hope you're all doing well and staying safe and healthy too. Love y'all! :)


	3. Chapter 3

Mark wakes up with a jolt, expecting to see the stone and vine walls of his home, sunlight streaming in through the cracks. He expects to feel Yukhei beside him when he stretches. These visions, hopes of home do not greet him.

He is still confined in a wooden box. His mother and brother are still nowhere near, and his father is still gone.

His great parent, the person who licked all his wounds and brought him honeys and made him laugh and… and all taken from him with one shiny piece of silver.

His eyes are run dry of tears, he can feel their tracks matted on his fur. He slowly sits up, only to look through the hole. The jungle he’s so used to seeing is replaced with tall buildings, nearly as tall as some of the trees back home. People… Monsters walk back and forth, chattering loudly amongst themselves. Smaller tents sit before the buildings with tables beneath… kind of like the market from This Place. The smell of the earth, of the old stone ruins, of the stream, is gone, replaced with a grimey scent, sticking to his nostrils and seeping into his lungs, revolting like slime. This is a human town.

His mother warned him many times of the dangers of humans, told him and his brother of the fates of hybrids that wander too close. He never told him what to do if he ever ends up in the center of them all.

Big metallic monsters lurch through the crowd beside him, thundering and honking like ducks, except they’re much louder. Mark frowns and stays put at the hole, watching with wide eyes this strange new place, trying to catch glimpses of home.

  
  


A shining silver car rolls to a stop before a grand stone building, over the entrance the word “Prison” is engraved in a clean white. Shotaro steps away from the building to approach the car, opening the back passenger door. A man in a white regal uniform with blue cuffs and trimming steps out, long brown hair tied back, slipping his matching white safari hat on, before saluting his Sergeant.

“Good afternoon, Captain.”

“Where is he?”

The Captain walks along ahead of his Sergeant to the prison doors. The guards stationed there hold the doors open and salute them as they walk into the yellow and browning corridors of the prison.

“Locked up, sir.”

“Did you feed him?”

“No, sir.”

They pass up a meager reception area—old rugs, old desks, old wooden benches, a fan fighting to keep spinning, merely moving the hot air about—and unlock a metal grate door to get to the cells. The hall is dark and narrow, lit only by the sunlight that shines in through the small grated windows in each cell.

“And you took away his belt and shoelaces?”

“Yes, sir. We did everything you asked.”

“Wonderful. Good job, Sergeant.”

They continue through till they come upon the cells at the very back, narrow and filled with a few persons. The person the Captain is after stands out starkly, a tall figure. The Captain smiles and gestures for Shotaro to unlock the cell.

“I can’t believe it! Johnny Suh! In my prison!”

Johnny glances towards the cell door, absentmindedly stroking his thumb over the charm of his new necklace.

“I am Captain Yuta Nakamoto. Pleasure to make your acquaintance!” Yuta gestures for him to come out as his Sergeant holds the cell door open. Johnny stands and slowly makes his way forward. Shotaro locks the door once Johnny is out and Yuta takes hold of his hand, shaking it. “Wow! The famed Johnny Suh in the flesh! My son loves your books. My husband reads them to him all the time.”

Johnny smiles slightly, politely, clearly confused as he shakes back.

“Come, we’ll get your things back to you,” Yuta gestures for him to follow.

Johnny follows behind the Captain, Shotaro close behind him. His belt and shoelaces are returned, and he really expects to be taken to a different cell but is surprised when Captain Nakamoto escorts him out the front gates.

Yuta grabs a handkerchief from within his uniform coat to dab at his neck and temples, “You know you really should be more careful when conducting your business. Hybrid hunting is taken seriously around these parts. It would’ve landed you with—”

“Three years,” Shotaro supplies.

“See?” Yuta smirks up at him, tucking the little cloth away. “However, I’m willing to overlook this little mistake if you simply tell me where the tiger is.”

Johnny quirks a brow down at him and sighs, shaking his head, “Haven’t a clue, Captain. Last I saw him was in some village near the jungle, the old chief’s probably already sold him.”

“Well, we’ll find it. Probably.” Yuta nods towards Shotaro, who takes out a little notebook and begins scribbling.

Johnny glances between them and then towards the seeming multitudes of people milling about the market across the dirt road from the prison. “So I’m free to go?”

“Unless you want to go back in.”

Johnny chuckles, “Nope, no thanks.”

Yuta smiles, taking his handkerchief out again to dab at the back of his neck.

“I don’t know how to thank you. I thought I was gonna be stuck in there till someone came to get me. There probably _is_ someone on the way so I’ll see about hitching a boat to… somewhere that isn’t here.”

Shotaro puts away his notebook, “We can’t allow Mr. Suh to leave the country. Not until the paperwork is finished.”

Johnny glances back at Shotaro and Yuta frowns, “Unfortunately, he’s right. Sorry about that.”

“No worries,” Johnny smiles slightly. “I’m just grateful to be out of that place.”

“Really?” Yuta smiles, hooking his arm with Johnny’s, leading him towards his silver car, “That gives me the courage to request a favor from you. It seems like fate that we should cross paths just at this moment. I’ll explain on the way.”

“On the way?”

“You were supposed to put down two tigers, correct?”

Johnny quirks a brow, sliding into the backseat with the Captain as Shotaro closes the door for them. “You did your research.”

Yuta smiles, removing his safari hat and setting it on his lap, “I have eyes and ears on most happenings around here.”

“Hm… Yeah, my target was two adult tigers.”

“Well, the one you shot is probably already being skinned and sold to some noble. So I’ll need your help catching the other one and keeping it alive for tomorrow. Is that a problem?”

“No, sir. I’ll get it done.” Johnny glances out the window as the car drives through the crowds. He doesn’t bother mentioning the cub he left behind at the village or the fact that the tigress he’ll be hunting may have other cubs. He’ll have to find them and rescue them too before anyone catches wind… He hopes the little cub he held is ok.

…

Mark squeaks, falling onto his side when the box stops moving. The constant rumble he heard all through the day dies down and someone approaches his box. The ropes over it are undone with metallic clinks and then the box is lifted again and carried away. Mark looks through the hole.

The sunlight is dimmed as they enter what looks like a tent, a few cages sit around housing other animals, colorful birds and monkeys. A poster is nailed against a different box depicting a snarling tiger and a ring of fire. He wonders where he is and then jolts, curling up into a ball when the box is set down and thunks are heard overhead. The wood squealing as it’s taken apart.

A man grunts, finally prying the wooden lid off. The tiger cub sits there, cute dark eyes watching him. He reaches down grabbing the cub by the scruff of its neck, keeping his other hand under its rear as it snarls all squeaky. “Hello, little man-eater. You’re the new star of my show! If you have no objection, I think we’ll call you… Minhyung.”

The cub growls at him, sharp teeth bared, claws outstretched.

“I am Jaemin Na, your new boss and director of The Great Dream Circus—” he turns him around to the rest of his crew—“That’s my husband, Jeno, our trainers, Chenle and Jisung, and that fearsome fire-breather is Renjun Huang.” The crew bows in greeting to the cub, chuckling amongst themselves. “You will be working with him.”

Mark growls as another monster blows flames out of his mouth and then sets his torch aside, placing it on a holder. Renjun scoffs looking down at the tiger cub in Jaemin’s hands, “Where’d you find him? The toy store?”

The other monsters laugh and Jaemin frowns, “No. He’s a hybrid. Exactly what you asked for.”

“And he’s a baby, he’ll learn quicker,” Jeno says, opening up a large cage for their new attraction.

Renjun still doesn’t look convinced and holds out his hands to take the cub from his partner. “Let’s see how tough he is then.”

Mark growls when the fire-breathing monster grabs him and bites its arm. Renjun shouts in surprise and grabs the cub’s muzzle, forcing his maw of sharp teeth off. Jaemin chuckles as Renjun forcibly takes the cub from his hands. “See, what’d I tell you?”

Renjun shakes Mark roughly and tosses him into his cage, “You aren’t the boss around here! The quicker you learn that, the better it will be for you.” He shuts the cage and walks away, shaking his head and holding his bleeding arm away from himself.

The rest of the monsters follow behind the angry one and Mark winces as he slowly sits up in his cage, the floor is covered in hay, ticklish against his nose. His fur hurts where the monsters grabbed him and he mewls pitifully, turning his head to lick away the nasty human scent. But the reek is everywhere, mingling with the distressed smells of the other animals, dampening the scent infused in his fur—of his parents, his brother, his home.

Until he notices gray eyes watching him. He turns to the cage right next to his and squeaks surprised to see a grown tiger sitting there. He chuffs and shifts, grabbing onto the bars of the cage. “Hello? My name is Mark. What’s your name? Can you help me get home, please? I’m not supposed to be here.”

The tiger blinks at him and gets up, moving to the far side of his cage before plopping down with a sigh. _“None of us are, kid.”_

Mark frowns, feels tears prickling in his eyes. “Please. I need to get back home!”

The older tiger says nothing else, just looks away.

“Please!” Mark moves away from the bars to pace his cage, looking for a way out. “I need to get home to my Mama and Yukhei.” The other animals look at him with pity in their eyes, but offer no words or gestures of consolation, going back to sitting in the corners of their cages as if nothing is out of the ordinary.

Mark sits when he finds nothing to help, tears spill over his cheeks again and his breathing comes quicker as the sobs build out of his chest, seeping out like calm streams, contrary to how he feels in every way. He licks his palm and uses it to clean at his ears and hair like his mama would do. He just needs to be brave and wait a little longer. 

His mama will come. Someday, somehow.

…

Yukhei runs ahead of his mother, tail low to the ground, ears perked, looking side to side as he continues forward. The jungle floor crunches softly under his paws and the few plants on the path brush against his fur, barely-audible rustles following his every move. Ten follows Yukhei at a slower pace, keeping his mouth, eyes, and ears open. 

They’re nearing the village territory and humans aren’t the only threat in this part of the jungle. Other hybrids, strangers, could be a threat to him and his cub. Not many of them take kindly to tigers and there’s always the chance he could run into another tiger, who could happen to be _not_ a bearer in which case Ten will have no one to rely on but himself.

But he’s already steeled himself for any and all possibilities. He is not going to let anything happen to Yukhei. If he has to die to keep his baby alive, then so be it.

_“Mama, what’s this? I’ve never seen this before.”_

Ahead, Yukhei is seated in front of a net, stretching up into the treetops from the ground and disappearing side to side in the surrounding jungle. He bats a paw against it and the net makes a loud rattling noise. His cub is clearly entertained by it if the way his tail starts sweeping is any indicator and bats a paw at the net again, repeatedly and harder for the jangling noise.

Ten growls, _“Yukhei! Get away from that!”_

No sooner do the words leave his mouth that they both hear the clamor of many people over the sounds of the jungle. Yukhei’s body freezes up and then he scrambles back to him, hiding beneath him. A growl rumbles in Ten’s throat and he turns around to find them a different way to their home.

_“Come on, baby. We need to be careful of traps. Don’t play with nets like those if you see one again, ok?”_

_“Yes, Mama!”_ Yukhei runs a few steps ahead of his mother, the shouting at the net left behind. He can feel his mother following and then he isn’t. All he hears are twigs snapping and his mama snarling. He looks back, fear creeping into his veins when he doesn’t see his mother. _“Mama!”_

He mewls and runs back, skidding to a stop at the edge of a massive hole. Below, his mother is pacing the square space, running up along the edges to try and jump out, but the hole is too deep. _“Mama!”_ He crouches at the edge, growling squeakily down at his mama.

His mother growls below, _“The walls are too high. Yukhei, get away from there! Go hide!”_

Yukhei yowls down at him, _“I’m not leaving you, mama!”_

Ten growls and tries once again to climb his way out, jumping nearly as high as the walls of the trap, sinking his claws into the soil to draw himself out, but he slides back down before his paws are even a foot away from the edge. His cub is still mewling at him, crying… all he needs to do is get to him and get the hell out.

Yukhei loses his balance at the precipice and falls forward, down to join his mother with a squeak. Ten looks down at him, a growl rumbling in his throat even as he checks him over for injury. Yukhei chuffs and presses his nose to his mother’s chin, leaning forward so his forehead is licked with a big rough pink tongue.

That is until they hear the humans shouting again. Yukhei squeaks as Ten pushes him, hiding him beneath the mat of foliage that was used to cover the trap in the first place. _“Stay there, don’t move no matter what, understand, baby?”_

 _“Yes, Mama—”_ the fear is clear in his voice when he whispers— _“I love you, Mama.”_

 _“I love you too, baby.”_ Ten steps away from Yukhei’s hiding place and looks up to the edges of the trap. The humans draw closer until they’re standing over them. Whistling and murmuring in awe down at him. It doesn’t take him long to identify the one in charge. A tall man with a rifle strapped over his shoulder.

He wonders if he’s the one who killed his mate, his Taeyong. The man stares down at him, doesn’t draw his weapon. He gestures to his companions and a bamboo net is slowly lowered over their hole, keeping them trapped.

  
  


“The villages are all grateful that you’ve come back again.”

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to see you again,” Johnny smiles as he follows the chief’s son out of the fenced-in area meant for the tigress and any cubs she may have.

Taeil smiles, but he doesn’t seem the least bit charmed by Johnny’s efforts, rather he’s more pitying like he’s used to the attention. He calmly walks ahead of the hunter. “They think you’ll finally get rid of the tigers in these jungles. To thank you, my father wants to give you a map. It has every recorded hybrid village in the country.”

“Aren’t they very hard to find?”

“No, not too hard if you’re willing to lose an arm or a leg.” Taeil smiles up at him with that same pleasant smile as the hunter grins, huffing out a chuckle.

“Where’d you learn your English?”

They walk side by side now, their arms brushing between them occasionally. “The Emperor set up a school to teach us all languages and many other things. My father sent me when I was younger.”

“I’m impressed. You speak it like a natural,” Johnny smiles, hoping his sincerity is conveyed as he meets Taeil’s eyes. “What else did they teach you?”

Taeil smirks as he looks up at him, “To beware of men like you.”

…

Johnny returns to Captain Nakamoto’s house after spending way too much time chatting with Taeil about nothing in particular. He wouldn’t mind staying in the country if it meant he could see him every day, but then there’s also the thing with his family and all their irritating expectations.

“Well?” Yuta smiles as he approaches from one of the many doorways of his grand home. Johnny steps away from the captain’s desk, folding his hands behind his back.

“We’ve captured one tiger, Captain, as you requested.”

“Wonderful,” Yuta grins. “The Emperor will be very pleased when I propose the hunt for him. His father was a great hunter, hopefully the trait has been passed down and you don’t have to go searching for another one.” Johnny nods and the captain gestures towards the table near his desk, a miniature model of the jungle—the abandoned temples on one end within the green and the town at the other—covers the entirety of it. “Did you see my design here?”

“Yes.” Johnny follows him over to it.

“Impressive, right? It’s no secret the people here have issues with the hybrids living in the jungles, though they wouldn’t be such a problem if they were… domesticated. Soon, the people won’t be fighting them, they’ll be living alongside them. My schools are going to make that happen.” Yuta thumps a fist against his chest and smiles.

Johnny gives a weary smile and nods. He isn’t sure how well that plan would go. Hybrids and humans live separately for a reason.

“It seems kind of odd that you’d actually want to domesticate them, but you’re perfectly fine with hunting them at the same time, Captain.”

Yuta smiles wide, “Yes, I know, but these are adult tigers we’re talking about. They’ve had a taste for human blood, they already see us as the enemy. I’d rather them be put down now than to try and help them later only for more people to lose their lives.”

Johnny hums.

They both turn around as folding double doors open just behind the captain’s desk. The doors lead out onto a white wraparound balcony, brimming with potted plants much like the rest of the house and overlooking the surrounding jungle. A good-looking man dressed down in khaki pants and a tucked light blue button-up walks in, chuckling softly.

“Poor, Mr. Suh. Dear, if you were going to bore the man with your visions, you could’ve waited till after he’s had lunch,” the man approaches Johnny, offering his hand. 

Johnny shakes his hand as Yuta smiles proudly and wraps an arm around the man’s waist, resting his chin on his shoulder. “This is my husband, Kun—” he kisses Kun’s cheek and grins as his husband lifts his chin and steps out of his hold with a bold air to him, not to be messed with—“Mr. Suh is helping me organize the hunt for His Excellency.”

Kun pats a hand against Yuta’s chest and nods, “I know, dear.” He walks back around the desk and settles into the seat, undoing another button on his shirt and airing himself with his hand. A vague annoyed expression on his face, eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly.

Johnny tries to keep his eyes averted from the new clean strip of skin, but smiles nonetheless, amused at his mannerisms. “Let me guess. You don’t like the whole domestication plan?”

Kun glances up at him and smiles, “Oh no, I support my husband through and through. It’s sitting around in this heat that I don’t like. I’m counting on you to make the hunt a success. If the emperor agrees to my Yuta’s proposal, it’ll be our ticket back home.” He stands, smiling coyly as he walks past Johnny. “Good luck, Mr. Suh.”

Johnny glances over his shoulder, catching a whiff of Kun’s cologne. Strong and mellow. He has a wonderful figure. Yuta claps Johnny on the back with a grin, “My husband… He’s amazing, hm? Easy on the eyes, too.”

Johnny nods, “You’re a lucky man.”

Yuta chuckles, “I know.” He hooks an arm with his. “Come on, let me show you where you’ll be staying.”

…

Creatures chitter even in the dead of night and the insistent noise only serves to remind Ten that he isn’t where he should be. He should be curled up in the quiet of his temple home, in the arms of his love, of the tiger who saw him and saw home, and with their babies snug and safe between them.

Yukhei lifts his head wearily at a particularly loud call. Ten purrs and pets a hand through his hair, guiding his head down to his chest again. Yukhei presses the side of his face to his chest without restraint and sniffles, nuzzling his cheek against his bare skin. The humans left them there in the hole and he isn’t sure how long they plan to have them trapped.

“Mama,” Yukhei whispers.

“Yes, my baby?”

“Do you think Mark and Pa are ok?”

Ten presses his nose to the top of Yukhei’s head, between his fuzzy ears. He breathes in his baby’s scent and lets out a shuddery sigh. If he really focuses, he thinks he can pick apart Yukhei’s scent, remove his own from the combination until all he’s left with is Taeyong’s.

He holds his cub closer and tries hard not to let the tears rise again. “I think… they’re in a better place now, baby… They’re together somewhere…”

Yukhei’s little fingers trace the stripes on his skin, over the faint light lines that stretch over his shoulders and arms. His mind decides to hurt him some more, reminds him of all the times Taeyong would reverently do the same. Dark eyes fascinated with every part of him, with the curve of his belly when it was almost time to meet Mark and Yukhei, and before their cubs even had names.

“They’re waiting for us, Mama?”

Ten nods, unable to speak around the ball in his throat. He feels wet little spots on his chest before Yukhei starts to hiccup softly. “Don’t cry, my baby—” he takes Yukhei’s little face in his hands and licks away his tears—“Don’t cry, my love.” The tears fall steadily over his fat little cheeks and Ten squishes them a few times to mold the grimace off his cub’s lips.

“B-But I miss t… them, Mama.”

“I miss them too. I miss them so much it hurts,” Ten smiles and keeps licking away the tears until Yukhei is reduced to sniffles and purrs so strong they vibrate through his entire body, from the top of his head to the tip of his tail. “We have to be strong for them, baby. We’ll see them again, I promise.”

Yukhei nuzzles their faces together and Ten rolls them onto their sides, tucking Yukhei into the soft bedding of foliage he gathered. His cub keeps close and tucks his face into the crook of his neck. Ten sighs and keeps him held to his chest. “Sleep, baby.” Yukhei wraps his arms around his neck and lets out a shuddery sigh as he closes his eyes.

…

On the day of the hunt, Johnny finds himself with the entourage Captain Nakamoto prepared to greet the Emperor when he would really rather be in the jungles, awaiting the signal to release the tigress. The hunt is nothing short of genius, Kun tells him that same morning, but it really isn’t much.

Techniques for events such as these have been perfected and passed down in his family since his ancestors first got a taste for trophy hunting. They will venture into an open field, the surrounding jungle filled with people armed with pots and pans and anything loud enough to scare the tiger. The animal will have no choice but to come towards the field and that is where the deed will be done.

He watches Yuta flitting around, checking to make sure all the banners, the troop of soldiers, and mini-orchestra he gathered are ready. He even has a red carpet rolled out over the dirt. Kun stands off to the side, dressed in his best suit despite how hot it is. His son, a cute little 6-year-old named Sicheng, stands beside him, holding his hand and dressed just as nice. The only fortunate thing here is the fact that a certain village chief’s son is also there, making sure none of his people—the ones in the jungle—get hurt while luring the tiger out.

Johnny makes his way over to his side with a small smile, “So I’ve thought about your father’s offer.” Taeil glances up at him once and returns his gaze to where Yuta is standing beside the dirt road, hollering about the incoming Emperor. “I might be staying around longer than I thought and it’d be really… wise for me to scout out these hybrid villages he spoke of. Seeing as how I’m not familiar with these parts, I was wondering if I could convince you to be my guide?”

Taeil fails to hide a little smile and Johnny’s heart does weird somersaults in his chest, “I really would need someone who speaks my language.”

“Johnny! Come stand over here! Hurry! The Emperor’s nearly here!” Yuta waves him over to where his husband and son are. He licks his lips, wiping the smug smile off his face to stand where he’s told. Yuta hurries off to where a shining white car has rolled up, sleek and fitting of an Emperor.

The driver hops out and holds the door open. Yuta does a few exaggerated bows as a young man with dark eyebrows steps out of the car, donning an impeccable white suit and safari hat to match. Emperor Dejun in all his glory. Another young man follows him out of the car, wearing a matching light pink suit. Where the Emperor is stoic, the other man is grinning wide and looking at everything with a puppy-like excitement. “Honey, look at that!”

The orchestra plays a little uplifting piece that Johnny can only assume is their national anthem as Yuta leads the Emperor down the red carpet and towards a tarp where he can select a rifle. Johnny follows beside Kun as they trail behind.

“Who’s the guy in pink?”

Kun smirks, “The Emperor’s consort, Guanheng. He has a weird fascination with hybrids. I hear he keeps a few below the palace. Yuta’s hoping his Excellency’s love for the consort will persuade him to our side, but—” he shrugs—“love is fickle.”

Johnny snorts and slows to a stop as Kun walks on ahead to join his husband. He glances back, searching for Taeil, and can’t help smiling when he sees him pacing as he murmurs orders into a walkie-talkie. The serious look on his face is doing wonders for his attraction to him.

He has to leave Taeil behind when it’s time for the hunt to begin. They ride atop elephants and head towards the field. A flare goes off as soon as they’re at the edge and Johnny keeps his eyes trained on the tall sparse grass, swaying with the steps of the elephant and searching for orange fur.

  
  


Ten looks up towards the sky when he hears a distant boom. The bamboo net keeping them trapped is slowly lowered after who knows how many days, creating an incline for escape. Yukhei squeaks and huddles away from the net. _“Mama, what was that?”_

 _“I don’t know.”_ Ten waits a few moments and sniffs at the air. He can smell humans nearby, many of them. He can even see a few, waiting on platforms in the trees above, but they don’t have any guns. _“Come on, baby.”_

Yukhei watches his mother climb his way out using the bamboo and hurries to follow despite how scared he is. Ten looks around for any imminent danger and hurries ahead with Yukhei on his tail; however, as soon as they’re out of the trap, a loud horn blows above and the jungle is filled with the hollers of humans and a loud jangling, jarring to the ears.

He needs to keep Yukhei away from them and growls for his baby to keep up as he leads him away from the noise. The jungle thins out into a large field with yellow grass tall enough to hide them if they crouch.

Yukhei mewls, struggling to keep up as he hops through the grass. _“Mama!”_

_“Come on, baby, we can’t stop here.”_

_“Mama, my paws hurt!”_ Yukhei whines and slows, dragging his feet.

Ten looks back to see Yukhei lying in the grass and licking the pads of his paws. He wonders briefly if they’d be ok hiding in the grass, just a moment so his cub can rest, but then he hears a loud trumpet. 

At the other end of the field are elephants, coming straight towards them, and on top of them, humans. Every single one of them holding a gun, glaring and glinting in the sun. Fear courses through his body, but then he recognizes one of them. Tall figure and rifle over his shoulder. The human that killed his Taeyong, that took _his_ Mark away.

His emotions reverse at full speed, lighting a fire within him. He picks Yukhei up by the neck and carries him back towards the rock formations at the border of the jungle and the field. He finds a suitable little cavern and places his cub down, nudging him inside. _“Stay there, Yukhei, don’t come out no matter what, understand?”_

_“Ma, what are you gonna do?”_

_“I’ll be back for you. Don’t move from here, baby.”_

Yukhei doesn’t argue anymore, not with the grave tone of his mother’s voice. He lays down in his hiding spot and tucks himself as far back within as he can. Ten feels a growl building in his throat as he leaves his baby’s hiding spot behind. He’s going to make sure that hunter never even dared step foot in these jungles.

He runs into the grass and slinks low, letting a millennia of instincts ingrained in his veins take over as he stalks towards the elephant entourage. His stripes make his big figure lose shape in the grass so he’s practically invisible in the blades. His muscles tense with every step he takes, closer and closer to his target.

He stops when he’s in the perfect position. The elephants march onward, unaware of his presence. As soon as they’re close enough, he’ll leap up there and bring the man down with one swipe of his paw. He’ll roar so loud the earth will shake with his vengeance. He’ll drag the human away while the rest of them panic.

They’ll never step foot in these jungles again.

The elephants halt where they are and he sees the tall man gesture in his direction. _“Dammit!”_ The humans raise their rifles, but Ten is faster and angrier. He growls, baring all his teeth and strikes.

Yukhei hears his mother’s growls growing louder and louder. He flinches as a loud bang cuts them off.

  
  


Yuta and Kun clap enthusiastically as Emperor Dejun descends from atop his elephant. “Bravo! Well done, your Highness!” Guanheng also claps from where he’s still sitting up there in the bed carriage, shaded by a golden parasol. A small smile curves Dejun’s lips, even as Johnny presents a pistol to him.

“For the coup de grace, your Excellency.”

Yuta is all too cheerful as he pats the pistol away, “No need, Mr. Suh! One shot, one kill! Just as your father would say, right, your Majesty?”

Dejun calmly walks towards where his prize lays in the grass, “I am not my father.”

“No, of course not, but you shoot just like him. Bang! Straight as an arrow. I couldn’t have done a better job myself.”

“Pride is one of your virtues, isn’t it, Captain?”

Yuta blushes pink in embarrassment and simply shuts up, smiling all pleasantly. Johnny tucks his pistol away as Kun murmurs to him, patting his arm, “Good job.”

Dejun exchanges his rifle for a more heavily decorated one. Shining black and gold with beautifully crafted finishes on the wooden butt. He steps over the giant tiger, laid out on its side, and smiles proudly. Blood oozes from its head, near its left ear, soaking into the magnificent fur, but that can always be washed out. He figures the bullet fragmented because there’s a clean hole through the tiger’s ear.

He sets one foot on its side, right where its ribs sit beneath glorious stripes, and poses with his rifle for the camera. This photograph will hang in his palace for generations. The photographer peeks under the curtain of the camera and gives the signal for the flash. The flash powder is ignited and bursts with light loudly.

The tigress’s eyes snap open and she growls as she takes off running. Dejun shrieks loudly as he’s knocked down into the grass. The soldiers accompanying their entourage start yelling amongst themselves and pointing towards where the tigress is bounding over the grass and quickly disappearing into the jungle.

Johnny chuckles, watching as Yuta helps the Emperor to his feet, as the soldiers miss multiple shots at the runaway tigress. He shakes his head with a small smile and turns around to make himself scarce for the time being.

Soon everything is packed away and Yuta and his husband see the Emperor off as the sun is setting. He wipes his forehead off with his handkerchief, holding the door open as Dejun gets back into his car with Guanheng, who’s sticking up his nose, clearly displeased. “She couldn’t have gotten far. I’m sure she’s somewhere dead by now. We’ll send you the skin as soon as we find her.”

Dejun smiles slightly and nods, “I’m sure you will.”

Yuta chuckles nervously and bows a few more times before closing the car door. He stands back beside Kun, waving as the car drives off back down the dirt road. Kun smooths a hand over his back comfortingly and Yuta sighs heavily, “If we had taken him fishing, he would’ve fallen off the boat.”

“Mr. Suh told me he thinks the tigress isn’t dead.”

Yuta curses under his breath, “We’ll find a skin and send it to him.”

Kun hums, frustrated, “Find one soon.”

“I’ll get you out of here, my love, I will. I just ask for a little more of your patience,” Yuta wraps an arm around Kun’s shoulders. Kun leans into him and then tenses up, pulling away and looking around.

“Yuta, where is Sicheng?!” When he doesn’t see his son immediately nearby, he curses loudly in Mandarin. Yuta follows behind Kun as he frantically marches off.

“Sicheng!”

“Sicheng! Yuta, there’s tigers in these jungles! Sicheng!”

  
  


Sicheng hears his parents calling for him, but his attention is wholly on the creature he sees in a little cavern. He lays on his stomach and smiles when he sees a tiger cub, backpedaling, clawing at the rock, and meowing like he’s scared.

“Don’t be afraid,” he whispers.

The little cub turns to look at him with round dark eyes. Its nose twitching as it sniffles. Sicheng smiles, “Are you a hybrid?”

The cub’s ears perk and Sicheng slides back, “Come on, it’s ok. I won’t hurt you.” The cub mewls and stays put in the hole. Sicheng knows the cub must be a little kid like him. His father taught him lots of stuff about hybrids. He sits up and hums, wondering how to get the tiger out. He can’t force him.

He smiles as he digs in his pocket for leftover candies his papa gave him. He draws a honey-flavored one out and presents it to the cub. “Look, I have candy. You can have some if you come out.”

He feels the cub’s wet nose on his fingers, sniffing at the plastic, and he giggles, drawing his hand out of the cavern. The cub creeps out and shifts before his eyes. A little boy about the same height as him with dark hair and tanned skin sits before him, wearing nothing but some shorts. Sicheng blinks a few times, mouth drooping open. The hybrid is completely unfazed by him, ears perked forward and eyes trained on the candy in his hand. He makes a weird guttural noise in his throat and Sicheng offers the candy in his open palm. The boy smiles and takes it, stuffing the candy in his mouth, plastic and all.

Sicheng laughs aloud as the boy grimaces, ears flattening against his head. He spits the candy back up into his clawed hand, looking down at it with quirked brows. “You gotta take off the plastic first.” Sicheng reaches and removes the plastic off the candy, throwing it away and wiping his fingers off on his pants.

The boy pops the candy in his mouth and smiles wide, chewing it up. He sticks his hand out for another one when he’s done and Sicheng giggles and reaches in his pocket. He places the candy in his hand and watches as the boy actually removes the plastic this time and holds the candy in his fist, licking at it.

“I’ve never seen anyone eat their candy like that,” Sicheng giggles.

“Sicheng! Sicheng…”

He looks over to see his fathers approaching slowly, eyes wide and jaws hanging slack. He smiles, “Look, papa! My new friend!”

Yuta and Kun exchange a wide-eyed glance as Sicheng smiles and cozies up to the tiger boy.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just think Lucas' and Sicheng's friendship is very neat. lol  
> also, I would just like to point out: I know our Neo's are overall good boys, and their characters in this fic in no way represent how I feel or see them... (except maybe Kun, he's one beautiful motherfucker and deserves better rep in the ficdom)  
> anyway, here's a tiger fact cause I like tigers and if you're here that must mean you like them too to some degree: if a tigress is forced to runaway with her cubs and if they're too small to actually, you know, get away, she will take the biggest, or the one she thinks has a better chance of surviving, to safety first.  
> :D
> 
> Anyway, I hope y'all are still liking this. I actually finished writing the fic so we're halfway through :)  
> Hope you're all doing well and doing what you can to stay safe and healthy <3


	4. Chapter 4

Ten stumbles through the night towards This Place. Feet aching and head full of sorrow. The new hole in his ear doesn’t help the pain.

He lured the humans away from Yukhei’s hiding place or he thought he did. When he returned later, he found the cavern empty and his cub nowhere to be seen. He tracked his scent to the road past the field and lost it there.

He wonders what he could have possibly done in his past life to deserve this. His mate was killed, his cubs taken from him, but he survived, left to live on without them. He doesn’t have anymore tears to shed and trudges on, empty.

When he arrives, there are fires lit along the main path. A few people sit huddled around them, under makeshift tarps. Homes have to be rebuilt after all.

“Ten!”

He looks up and sees Sungchan running towards him, blanket in his hands. The tall deer hybrid wraps the blanket around his shoulders and hugs him. “Are you hurt? Where are your—” He stops himself when he sees the broken look in Ten’s eyes. The deer hybrid’s eyes fill with tears and he hugs him tighter. “I’m sorry.”

Ten strokes his back, “I’m ok… I just need someone to look at my ear. I got shot.”

Sungchan furiously wipes his tears away, a determined look in his eyes, and leads him towards a hut with an arm around his shoulders. Ten lets himself be led and smiles a little when he sees Doyoung step out of the hut with a wooden bucket in his hold. His best friend notices them and drops the bucket, water sloshing out. He barrels straight into him, almost knocking him down as he hugs him tight.

“I’m back from the war, honey.”

“Shut up,” Doyoung mutters, holding him tight. “I was so scared. I thought they’d gotten you too.”

“Can’t kill me that easily.” Ten gestures at his ear and wiggles it. “I got a souvenir.”

Doyoung grimaces at the hole, “What happened?”

“The human missed. It felt like they blew half of my head off though.”

Doyoung shakes his head, taking him from Sungchan’s hold and leading him towards the hut. His best friend doesn’t ask about his cubs, and he’s grateful because he’s sure he would break down and he’d rather not do that in front of the chief’s son. “Let’s get it cleaned up. I’ve got it from here, Chanie, thank you.”

Sungchan bows his head and turns around to go and help others. Doyoung picks up the bucket he dropped and sets it standing just outside the hut, picking up a different one filled with water. He carries the bucket into the hut, holding the drape open for his best friend to enter.

Ten steps into the dark interior. The only light is a candle sitting on a table towards the back. Two beddings of hay sit near it. One of them is occupied by someone oddly familiar. His heart stops when he recognizes the sharp jawline, curved nose, and lilted top lip.

“T-Tae—” he scrambles over to the bedding till he’s at his knees—“Taeyong.” He wipes his eyes when his vision goes blurry and misty. His mate lies there, torso bandaged and covered up to his waist with a blanket, but his chest is rising and falling slowly, and Ten—

Ten thought he’d lost him forever.

He leans forward, pressing their foreheads together. Composure breaking entirely, feeling the warmth of his mate. Alive and near him again.

Doyoung approaches slowly and sits opposite him, “These cats found him. They bought him back from the humans and brought him to us. They removed the bullet… They say he’ll live.”

Ten strokes his hands over Taeyong’s face and nods, tears streaming down his cheeks as his heart swells. “I’m home,” he whispers. “I’m here, Yongie… I’m sorry…”

…

“Five, four, three, two, one. Ready or not, here I come!”

Sicheng turns away from the corner of his room and uncovers his eyes. He smiles as he looks under his bed, though there’s nothing but dust bunnies and a few forgotten toys beneath it. “Lucas. ” 

He stands and walks around the bed to look within a big wooden toy house. He’s sure his friend would be able to fit in his animal form. “Where are you, Lucas?” He crouches and looks inside, but this is also empty.

He hums and stands in the middle of his room, looking around for any sign of his friend, until he spots movement to his left. On the baby blue wall is a shelf, filled with a few stuffed animals, elephants, bears, monkeys, and sitting with them a blinking tiger cub.

Sicheng grins, “I see you, Lucas.”

Lucas hops off the shelf, shifting as he does, and smiles, patting Sicheng’s shoulder, “You turn! You hide! I count!”

Sicheng giggles and nods, “Ok! You count to 20!”

Lucas goes to the corner, covering his eyes. Sicheng smiles, watching Lucas’ striped tail curve side to side as he counts. His papa had to cut a hole in the pants for his tail and he has to wear a shirt too because papa said it wasn’t proper for him to run around naked all the time. Lucas doesn’t like it, but he listens. His father has been teaching Lucas how to speak normal too. They have lessons in the morning and then Sicheng gets to play with him all day long after that.

He’s happy he has someone to run with all through the gigantic house now.

  
  


“We had to rid the village of that bloodthirsty monster, and our chance came sooner than we expected. We had just set off, when, suddenly, there was a movement in the rocks and all across the air was filled with war and tears and claws. With no time to aim, I brought the gun to my shoulder and fired. The bullet struck the man-eater full in the chest and, with a terrible groan, it fell to the feet of my track. The beast rolled over and stared at me with its green lucid eyes, extending and retracting its claws in its final throes of death—” Kun rubs a hand over his throat, glancing at his son and Lucas, already asleep and snug together in the bed. He returns his gaze to the book and continues—“We stood there, silent before the magnificent creature, and then, according to custom, I cut open the chest and gave the warm, steaming heart to my client…”

Kun closes the book on his lap and sighs softly. Johnny Suh’s serious little portrait sits on the back of the book alongside the description and title, “The Lion Hunt”. He skims his fingers along the picture and sighs, putting the book away on a small shelf beside the bed, filled with the rest of Johnny’s books. He’s much more handsome in real life and he wonders if his husband would be at all opposed to a threesome. He’d love to be sandwiched between them.

He shakes his head, shaking the thought away before he leans over and kisses his son’s forehead. “Goodnight, Sicheng,” he whispers. He leans further and presses a kiss to the other little boy’s forehead, curled up to Sicheng in his cute tiger cub form. “Goodnight, Lucas.” 

Lucas purrs softly as Sicheng shifts onto his side, wrapping an arm around him as if he’s a stuffed animal to cuddle. Kun smiles, takes the bottle of milk between Lucas’ paws, and steps away, “Sweet dreams, my babies.”

…

Jaemin walks past Jisung and Chenle as they work with one of the monkeys, training it for a new trick. He makes sure they’re actually training and not messing around before heading towards the tiger cages. The oldest, Baekhyun, sits there as always, unbothered by everything and anything, especially the tiger cub in the cage next to him.

He approaches said tiger’s cage and opens the door. The tiger cub lays there in the hay, unmoving, barely even breathing. Jeno comes up beside him, passing him a little metal plate filled with chopped-up meat. Jaemin sets the plate in front of the little cub, “Yo, Minhyung, you have to eat. Come on.”

Jeno snorts and chuckles, “He’s gonna die.”

Jaemin sighs and puts the plate closer to the cub, right next to his muzzle. “This is good meat, Minhyung.”

“Renjun’s gonna be mad, Minie… Maybe if you put milk in it.”

“We don’t have money to spare for milk just for him. It’s this or nothing.” Jaemin shakes his head.

Jeno presses a kiss to Jaemin’s cheek and walks off, “Well, you’d better get him to eat. We spent good money on him.”

Renjun walks past, pushing along a wheelbarrow full of hay, “You should give it back to Taeil. Maybe he’ll give us _some_ of the money back for this striped kitten he gave us.” He laughs, “Or get him stuffed before his fur starts falling off. We’ll be able to sell him then.”

Jaemin glares at Renjun and closes the cage, marching off.

Baekhyun watches the young humans go back to their duties, the same ones they’ve always done since they bought him as a cub. He turns his gaze on the little comatose cub in the cage next to his. This cub reeked of the jungles when he was first brought, the scent of the wild on his fur has since diminished but it awoke old forgotten memories in him, of faceless parents and siblings.

He stands and lumbers over to the bars keeping them apart. The cub is breathing shallow and fast. He’ll die soon if he doesn’t eat. He sighs heavily and sticks his tail through the bars, swiping it over his nose.

Mark sneezes and curls up, emitting an annoyed little growl. Baekhyun keeps on swatting his tail against him until Mark sits up, blinking blearily a few times before pouncing on the offending tail, pinning it.

Baekhyun chuffs and Mark looks up at him, squeaking in surprise as if he didn’t realize it was _his_ tail he was playing with. _“I’m sorry,”_ the cub murmurs and steps off of it.

_“Why aren’t you eating, kid?”_

Mark glances over at the plate of meat and shakes his head, _“I want my ma’s milk.”_

_“There is no milk here for you and your mother is nowhere near.”_

_“He’s gonna come for me,”_ Mark glares up at the older tiger, straight into his grey eyes.

Baekhyun huffs, amused, _“If he does, he’s a fool. The humans have guns and whips and all kinds of traps. They’re crafty—”_ he nods towards the monkeys tied to posts, allowed to roam around the grounds of the tarp— _“related to those tricksters.”_ He yawns, displaying all his sharp teeth, before laying down. _“The only way to leave this place is to pass to the other side. You sure you’re ready to make that journey, kid?”_

Mark blinks at him, fur standing on end, terrified.

 _“Don’t worry. You’re halfway there already.”_ He lays his chin on his crossed paws. He watches through half-lidded eyes as Mark paces his cage and then returns to sit right in front of him.

The cub whispers, _“I don’t wanna die… Can you help me?”_

Baekhyun lifts his head, smiling internally, _“Eat, cub. To survive here, you must strive under your oppressors. Keep healthy and keep in line. Do what they say and you’ll stay alive.”_

 _“What’s your name?”_ Mark asks as he drags his feet over to the plate and sniffles at the meat, grimacing at the smell.

 _“I don’t remember the name my mother gave me, but the humans call me Baekhyun—”_ he purrs ever so slightly as Mark digs into the chunks of meat, his muzzle immediately staining with bright red— _“_ _Tell me, cub, about your family. Your memories are all you have to keep you sane.”_

Mark forces himself to chew down the bitter-tasting food, _“I have a mother and father and a brother. He’s older than me by 8 minutes. His name is Yukhei.”_

And he keeps chattering on until he’s used to the taste of the meat, until he craves it.

When night falls, the Dream Circus puts on their show. Jaemin spontaneously presents act after act to the small crowd gathered until it comes time for their final, special treat.

“Ladies and gentlemen! The moment you’ve been waiting for! The Great Dream Circus is proud to present you with the savage man-killer!” Their small orchestra of circus music rises in anticipation as Jaemin continues.

“Get out, old man. Time to get to work,” Rejun stands aside as he opens Baekhyun’s cage, whip in hand as the massive tiger lumbers out of the cage, down the wooden ramp, and towards the metallic tunnel leading to where Jaemin is. “Go. Move.”

Jeno watches from where he’s sitting comfortably within his and his husband’s railroad car. He has long finished his strongman act, but he’s still sweating in his tank top. “Old Baekhyun. One day he’s gonna collapse in the ring… Maybe we should put him out of his misery? Or sell him?”

“Who would buy him? No one wants an old tiger… We should’ve bought a male tiger sooner, we could’ve gotten some cubs out of him,” Renjun sighs and follows behind Baekhyun as he slows his gait. “Not even a desperate butcher would buy him now.”

Baekhyun’s learned some of the human’s language over the time they’ve kept him. He knows he doesn’t have much time left and it never worried him before. Everyone’s bound to die eventually, but the notion terrifies him now. If he goes, there will be no one left to take the brunt of the human’s abuse. Mark will be trained… broken.

The little cub is strong and Baekhyun hopes with all his might for more time, so he can protect him.

Renjun kicks his rump, “Go on! Move!”

He doesn't so much as wince and continues into the tunnel as Jaemin calls his name, “I give you, bloody Baekhyun!”

“You’re a ferocious animal, so act like one!” Renjun whispers harshly.

Baekhyun enters the ring and gives all his strength. He puts on the best show of his life. All for little Minhyung.

…

Johnny finds himself seated at a long table for dinner with Yuta directly across from him and Kun right next to him. The couple has let him stay with them for a long time now and he wonders just how much more he can take living there. 

Yuta is a smart man, but he’s also blinded by his ambition. He let his son keep the tiger hybrid they found in the jungles, and, while it isn’t new for people to keep hybrids as pets, he knows for sure keeping a wild one, a tiger of all breeds, is an accident waiting to happen. He’d also rather not count the number of times he’s heard Kun and Yuta in the throes of passion and hopes it isn’t too late to ask for a different room far from theirs. He can only take Kun’s screaming for so long. Soon he won’t be able to look him in the eyes.

“So—” Yuta clears his throat as he sips his wine—“how have you been enjoying your extended stay?”

Johnny smiles easy as he eats, “Very much. Thank you.”

“I hear you’ve been keeping yourself entertained. Does this mean you’ll be staying a while longer in our beautiful colony?” Yuta grins, a little twinkle in his eyes, and Johnny already knows where this conversation is going to lead. “Which I wouldn’t be surprised if you do and you’re more than welcome to stay with us, there’s plenty to do around here.”

None of the adults notice the two boys under the table. Sicheng shushes Lucas as he plays with one of his father’s shoes. The tiger bites on the laces and growls in his throat. His father always takes his shoes off while he eats so he hasn’t noticed but if Lucas’ growls get any louder, they’ll both be scolded.

“Come to think of it, someone mentioned to me that you’ve been asking about the hybrid villages. I can’t help but think maybe you’ve taken interest in my plans? There’s still plenty of tigers in those jungles, but you’re still without a license. My sergeant, Shotaro, isn’t too pleased with my decision to release you.”

“That can’t be too pleasant for you.”

“It’s not,” Yuta sighs and shrugs. “He’s like a son to me but he’s young. He doesn’t see all the wisdom behind my moves. You’ve got to play your pieces right. A man such as yourself understands that very well, hm?”

Johnny grins, “Can’t say I don’t.”

Yuta sets his silverware down, “I might be able to process a license for you or, if it’s more to your liking, perhaps a special title? Special hunting advisor?” He chuckles and Johnny shakes his head with a small smile.

“No, that’s not necessary. I don’t think I’ll be picking up my rifle anytime soon.”

Sicheng hugs onto Lucas with a grin as his friend keeps on chewing away at the shoe, moving closer and closer to where his papa sits until he’s bumped the shoe against his papa’s dress shoe.

Kun feels the press of a shoe against his and glances at Johnny with wide, hopeful eyes. Did he finally notice all his longing looks?

“But you’ll have to if I need you to organize another tiger hunt. It’s no trouble to me anyway, I’m doing it for you so Shotaro doesn’t have another reason to lock you up,” Yuta smiles.

“That’s very kind of you. How on Earth can I thank you this time?” Johnny decides to bite and get it over with.

Kun smiles a little to himself and returns his gaze to his plate. Mr. Suh is acting so cool and casual in front of Yuta like he doesn’t notice what he’s doing. He hopes he isn’t blushing too much.

The smile drops off Yuta’s face and his voice goes all serious, “I need the skin of that tigress. His Excellency is being very difficult about my schools again. It’s because he lost face during the hunt.”

Johnny arches a brow as Yuta picks up his silverware again, cutting his steak up a bit aggressively. “And how do you suppose we present him with the skin if there’s still a live tiger inside it?”

Kun takes his chance as Yuta is distracted and presses back against Johnny’s foot, letting him know his advances are welcome.

“You’re the hunter. Figure it out. I have an appointment with the Emperor in three days and I cannot go empty-handed.”

Johnny’s brow furrows and he sets his silverware down. “Don’t be ridiculous. That’s impossible—” he doesn’t notice the slack-jawed, wide-eyed stare Kun is sending him—“Tigers are solitary by nature. It would take me weeks to track one down, even one that’s been injured. We encroached on her territory, she’s sure to have moved.”

Sicheng giggles softly as Lucas rolls over to where the great hunter sits, dragging the shoe along as he goes. It’s now pressed against the hunter’s foot and Sicheng pets behind Lucas’ ears as he destroys his father’s shoe.

Johnny nearly jolts in his seat when he feels something pressing against his foot. Is Yuta’s husband trying to play footsies with _him_ now? He glances at Kun, brow furrowing even further when he notices the little hopeful smile on his lips and the suggestiveness in his eyes. _Right in front of his husband?!_

“Come on, don’t be so modest, Johnny,” Yuta interlaces his hands. “You are a world-renowned hunter. You can do it.” He shakes his head, “Otherwise, I’ll run out of excuses to tell Shotaro. He says you have an accomplice. Some local boy.”

Johnny turns his attention back to Yuta when he realizes he’s talking about Taeil.

Lucas grows tired of playing with the shoe and nips Sicheng’s shirt and pulls, tagging him before running off from under the table. Sicheng laughs aloud despite the new hole in his shirt and follows behind Lucas. The cub swats at the low-hanging tablecloth and the fabric catches on his claws.

The tablecloth and everything on it come crashing down to the floor, their plates and glasses breaking and clattering as Sicheng chases after Lucas. Yuta curses loudly and Kun exclaims in annoyance, “Yuta!”

Johnny watches the kiddie duo run off and grits his jaw to keep from laughing hysterically. He really landed himself in a madhouse.

…

Johnny tries conferring with Taeil about any recent tiger sightings but is upset to find there haven’t been any after their first raid to the hybrid village. He tried tracking the tigress the Emperor shot, but she covered up her tracks, something he’s never seen a hybrid do so well. And so, with no other options, he ends up at a circus that advertises a ring-jumping tiger.

He strolls under the tarp towards the area in the back where all the animals are locked up. He hasn’t run into anyone yet and if there weren’t cars outside, he’d think the circus was abandoned.

“Hello?”

  
  


Mark wakes when he hears an unfamiliar voice and sits up. A stranger walks towards where his owners stay and he springs to his feet when he recognizes the man as the nice monster with the honey candies. He shifts into his human form and holds onto the bars of his cage, purring loudly until he’s gotten the man’s attention.

Johnny looks over and approaches slowly. A small smile spreading on his lips when he recognizes the hybrid boy. “Hey, I know you.”

Mark smiles and shifts back into his tiger form, rolling onto his back and purring as he rubs up against the bars of the cage. Maybe this nice monster can help him escape.

“So this is where they’ve brought you,” Johnny smiles, watching the tiger. He’s grown a little bigger since he’s last seen him and his fur is dirtier, no longer gleaming like when he first found him. “It’s not so bad—” he glances at the older tiger in the other cage, watching him with disinterest—“at least you’ve got company.”

The tiger cub rolls onto his back and stares up at him through the bars, muzzle pressed against them and chuffing loudly at him. Johnny leans his head against the bars, staring the cub down, “Don’t look at me like that. What was I supposed to do with you? Your mother would’ve killed me if I tried returning you and I very much like being alive, you know… I couldn’t leave you on your own. You never learned to hunt, you would’ve starved to death, and that’s if you didn’t get eaten right away.”

The cub growls and mewls, sitting up. Johnny imagines he must be trying to talk to him and smiles. Mark grumbles when the monster doesn’t understand and licks at the bars. Maybe he’ll understand this.

“So you do remember me. Don’t worry, I know what you want,” Johnny chuckles and draws the can of candies out of his pocket. He grabs one and sticks his hand through the bars, letting the cub eat it from his palm.

“Uh-uh-uh! I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Jaemin buttons up his shirt as he approaches the idiot with his hand in the tiger’s cage. “Even at that age, they can take your finger off.”

Johnny puts his candies away and turns to the young man with his hands crossed politely behind his back. “I hear you keep the skins of your animals after they’re dead.”

“Sometimes,” Jaemin shrugs.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a tiger skin by any chance?”

“Tiger skin? I’m afraid—”

“We can get you a tiger hide!” Renjun hops out of his railroad car and approaches in his pajamas because of course, he was sleeping this late in the morning.

Johnny looks over at the smaller man, “Good. Can I see it?”

“When do you need it?” Renjun takes off his sleeping hat and stuffs it in the pocket of his pants, smoothing down his hair.

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Jaemin glances at Renjun with quirked brows but his friend just waves him off.

“Then you can see it tomorrow. It will cost you a thousand dollars. Payable in advance.” Renjun smiles pleasantly. He can tell this man has a lot of money.

“I don’t want it finished in gold leaves.”

Renjun shrugs, “That’s the price. It’s up to you.”

Johnny stares them both down, but Renjun is unintimidated. “Do you want the skin or not? If you do, it’s a thousand dollars. If you don’t, get the hell out.”

Renjun watches as the tall man gives in and takes out his wallet, handing over a bunch of bills. “Alright—” he glances at the tiger cub, still whining at him—“Spend some of it on this one. Feed him well. He’s my friend.”

Jaemin takes the bills, counting them with growing eyes as Renjun turns his gaze on Baekhyun, yawning where he lays.

Later in the afternoon, Mark is still licking at the honey candy the nice monster gave him. Baekhyun watches disapprovingly, _“Why would you eat that? It could be poisoned.”_

Mark huffs in amusement, _“You’re just jealous cause you didn’t get one—”_ Baekhyun blinks blankly at him _—“It’s not poisoned. My father used to get me honeys just like these… before he was…”_

_“No need to talk about that, Minhyung. Be glad at least that your father is in a better place… You’ll meet him again someday on the other side.”_

Mark nods despite the tears collecting in his eyes. He watches in surprise as the fire-breathing monster opens up Baekhyun’s cage. There is no show tonight. _“Baekhyun?”_

_“Don’t worry, cub. Just some training. Remember what I taught you, ok?”_

_“Yes, Baekhyun.”_

Mark watches through the bars as his friend is taken out of his cage and led out towards the main ring where the shows are, the tarp blocking his view. He lays down and waits expectantly to hear the leader’s shouts of instruction, except they never come.

All he hears is a loud thunderous bang similar to the one when his father was killed.

He cries through the night when Baekhyun doesn’t return and even the next morning when the fire-breathing monster drags him out of his cage with a chain around his neck and makes him get in Baekhyun’s.

“What are you crying about?” Renjun grumbles. “You should be happy. You’ve been promoted.”

Jisung and Chenle replace the sign over the cage, the one with Baekhyun’s name on it, with a new one that reads, “Minhyung, the blood-thirsty tiger”.

…

“I hear you’ve become best friends with the Captain.”

Johnny chuckles from where he’s laying down on a bedding of leaves. “I wouldn’t say that… He’s more demanding than my own father.” He glances at Taeil, crouching near him as he peels a mango, the skin yellow and soft.

They’re floating along a river on a raft made of many long pieces of tied-up bamboo. A few of Taeil’s guards stand at the edges of the raft, pushing it along with poles, others flank them in smaller wooden canoes. The sun is hot on his skin, but a breeze blows through occasionally, carrying with it the smell of the jungles, surrounding the light, murky waters on either side. Somehow, he thinks he should be scared of it, of the depths and the creatures hiding in it, but instead he’s fascinated.

Fascinated with the country and the wilderness and the man that calls it home.

He props himself up on his elbow to face him, “I don’t know how much more I can take it, honestly.”

“You shouldn’t feel sad,” Taeil pauses his peeling to meet his eyes. “And you were right not to leave that little tiger in the jungle. It would’ve grown up a man-eater.”

“Maybe… but he had a mother. She could’ve taken him back.” Johnny wipes at his brow and sniffles, staring out towards the trees. There could be hybrids out there right now, watching them.

“You’re a hunter. You protect people from wild animals. Those hybrids, they're not like us. It’s good to kill them, not to pity them.”

“That’s exactly what I used to think,” Johnny sighs. Bird and insect calls and chitters reach them from the trees, providing an indescribable ambiance. It’s almost romantic and Johnny has to wonder if he’s not the only one that feels this way.

Taeil fiddles with a rag, cleaning his fingers off, a small smile on his lips, “For me, hunting is a noble occupation.”

Johnny glances at him, “I think it’s also a noble occupation to save hybrids and keep them separate from us. They see us as the monsters… And they deserve that much at least, don’t you think?”

Taeil meets his eyes with a smirk, “My father agrees… if you give him money.”

Johnny chuckles and looks back towards the river, at the ripples along its surface. Taeil smiles and scoots closer. Johnny gestures at the map rolled up nearby, “Nobody sees the hybrids here. They stay deep in the jungles and forests and plains.”

“The jungles are our home. This has been our home for generations.”

“It’s also the tiger’s home, but you don’t mind killing them.”

Taeil frowns and grabs the necklace around Johnny’s neck, holding the charm in the palm of his hand, “Do you remember the young man that gave you this? The one who lost his leg to a tiger?” Johnny nods, bewitched by Taeil’s proximity. The tan on his skin, his beautiful eyes and the seriousness in them, and his squared jaw that he’d love to praise with kisses. “His name is Donghyuck. He’s my brother… and he would’ve died that day if my father hadn’t killed the beast.”

Taeil tucks the necklace back in his open shirt and turns his gaze back to the mango, peeling it nearly completely. He offers it to Johnny with a coy smile, “We wouldn’t have met if you hadn’t come hunting, you know…? I’ll show you the rest of the hybrid villages so I’m trusting you to keep me safe.”

“I’ll do my best.” Johnny takes the golden fruit, taking a big bite and chuckling when juice, sticky and running, coats his hands.

Taeil grins, “Good.”

…

“Your Excellency, your father always preferred to show the death wound in the photograph.”

Dejun nearly glares the photographer down from where he sits on an ornate golden seat. The tiger skin the Captain brought him laid out before him. The jaw of the creature on his lap and the rest of its body laying on the floor so its beautiful stripes and orange fur are visible. “I am not my father,” he says through gritted teeth.

The photographer bows his head respectively and peeks under the curtain of the camera. The rest of the room is as ornate as it can be. Golden and red walls, other trophies—an elephant head, a stuffed peacock, a rifle with an ivory butt, to name a few. Guanheng nears, dressed down in expensive clothes his Emperor bought him. “So where is the hole?” He chuckles giddily, leaning over Dejun’s shoulder before sticking his finger through the hole in the tiger’s right ear. “Here it is! Isn’t that amazing?”

Dejun smiles up at him, a tightness around his mouth as Guanheng presses a kiss to his temple. “Absolutely amazing, and very meticulous on their part. Unfortunately, the animal I shot was hit in the other ear.”

Guanheng watches as Dejun stands, setting the skin down and promptly marching out of the room. The door slams and he glares down at the skin, “That damned old pervert—” he waves the photographer away with a sigh—“Come back later. My honey’s not seeing anyone right now.”

The photographer and his assistant bow as Guanheng walks off to find and comfort his Emperor.

…

Yukhei learns a lot of things living in the human house. He learns how to tie shoelaces and button up shirts. He learns how to read and speak in the human language. He learns lots of fun new games. He learns that the parents of his new friend would buy him anything he wants.

They call him Lucas and Yukhei is happy with it because he likes how it sounds. In many ways, the adult humans, Yuta and Kun, remind him of his parents. They’re tangled up in hallways when they think no one’s watching, just like his parents would whenever they cuddled together in bed. They command and garner respect. If Yukhei didn’t know any better, he’d think they were hybrids too… or something more than a hybrid… full-on beasts.

Sicheng plays with him almost all the time when he isn’t busy doing chores or studying and Yukhei is happy because he reminds him of his brother. But Yukhei is also sad because he reminds him of his brother. He studies the human language hard so that he can ask the one in charge, Kun, if he could help him find Mark. The humans have been kind to him so far and he hopes their kindness will stretch on for his request.

Once he finds Mark, they will go back home… Mama and Papa are both gone so they’ll have to live on their own and take care of the temple… Their uncles, Doyoung and Jaehyun, will still be there and so will their many cousins… And maybe they’ll be sad, but they’ll know their parents are in a better place and waiting for them and they’ll be happy because they’ll get to see them again someday.

These thoughts fill his head as he lumbers around through the halls of the grand home in his tiger form because he likes the way the humans shriek in surprise when they see him until they realize who he is. He’s supposed to meet Sicheng in the dining room soon.

He purrs happily to himself as he trots along towards said room until he hears a new sound. Barking, high-pitched and excited. His ears perk forward as he pokes his head into the room. Sicheng sits there on the floor with a little black and brown dog on his lap, giggling as the animal yaps and licks at his face.

His friend notices him by the doorway and waves, “Look, Lucas! My Papa got me a dog! Her name is Bella!”

The dog looks in his direction and emits a low growl before springing off of Sicheng’s lap and running straight at him, barking loudly. Yukhei feels fear run through his body, from his nose to the tip of his tail. He mewls and takes off running down the hall.

“No, Bella! He’s my friend!”

The dog doesn’t listen to Sicheng’s yells and adrenaline fills Yukhei’s veins, fearing the dog may catch up to him and bite him. He skids around corners, his claws scratching against the floor as he tries to get some traction. He pushes a door open, knocks down a coat rack and a table, but he can still hear the dog barking madly and chasing right behind him.

He runs and runs until he’s cornered in the laundry room, stuck between the wall and the stone washer. The dog runs right at him, black beady eyes wild and lips pulled back in a snarl as she barks, sharp canines on display.

Yukhei mewls and presses himself up against the corner as far as he can but the dog keeps advancing and he panics, growling and striking out.

  
  


Kun comes running towards the laundry room in his comfy stay-at-home clothes. Cotton shorts and tank top. He didn’t think it’d be a problem for Bella and Lucas to get along but then Sicheng came crying to him.

“Lucas?! Bella?!”

The laundry room is unusually quiet and he goes towards the back in a hurry. He moves aside a sheet hanging on a clothesline and his stomach turns at the sight that greets him.

Lucas sits there, crazed-looking, chest rising and falling rapidly, blood around his mouth and covering his hands, and little Bella lays before him, dead and disfigured. He feels his lunch attempting to come up and he turns tail, running faster than he ever has before. “Oh shi— Help! _Help! Yuta!_ ”

  
  


“I want him out of my house! Out!” Kun yells as Yuta, with the help of his staff, pushes the growling tiger cub towards the front door with chairs and brooms and anything else they can get their hands on.

“But, Papa, he’s mine!” Sicheng pulls at his papa’s shirt to try and get them to stop, “No! Papa! He was only playing! He didn’t mean it!”

“Get him out!”

Lucas yowls and mewls, trying to stay inside the house, but he keeps getting pushed along until he’s out the front door and on the cement porch. Stairs lead down to a carriage, the door of it wide open and ready to take him in.

“Out! Out of here!”

“No! You don’t understand! Don’t touch him! Stop! Don’t hurt him! Papa, I need him!”

They herd and push the crying tiger cub down the stairs and into the back of the carriage.

“Lucas! Lucas!”

The door of the carriage is closed and locked. Yukhei shifts and grabs onto the bars, looking through them. “Sorry! I’m sorry! Let me out! Please! I’m sorry!” His voice is much too deep and rough to be human no matter how much his pleas are. They never really were able to take out the animalistic edge to it.

Sicheng runs down the stairs to the back of the carriage and grabs onto the bars, “Lucas, it’s ok! I’ll get you out!”

Kun grabs Sicheng and pulls him away from the carriage, “No! Sicheng, keep back from that _monster_!”

“I’m sorry!” Lucas hiccups and reaches an arm out, his tears mingling with the blood stained on his face, “Sicheng!”

Yuta waves his hand for the carriage to go and Sicheng watches with tears running down his face as the carriage pulls away from the house with his friend locked in it. He yanks his arm out of his Papa’s hold and runs after it, “Lucas! Lucas!”

Yukhei cries and cries for his human friend as he gets further and further away from him.

“Sicheng! Sicheng!” Kun runs after his son and catches him before he gets too far.

“Don’t go!” Sicheng yells, but his papa has a tight grip on him this time and carries him back towards the house. He hears Lucas’ cries getting further and further away as his father takes him into his arms, hugging him so he can’t run off again. “He was only playing! I know he was only playing!”

“We can’t keep him anymore, Sicheng! He has a taste for blood now!” Kun cries, breathing heavily, still traumatized at the sight of the mutilated puppy as Sicheng starts kicking and thrashing to get away.

Yuta holds onto his son tightly, carrying him back into the house, “Calm down, Sicheng, calm down. I’ll buy you a cat, whatever you want, baby.”

“Get off! Get off! I want my tiger!” Sicheng yells, watching as the carriage keeps going down the dirt road, off their estate. “Lucas!”

Kun massages his temples and goes back up the stairs into his home, waving the staff away, “Show’s over. Back to work!”

Yuta keeps trying to calm his son down as he follows his husband back in.

…

The carriage is taken towards a grand palace and Yukhei stays in the corner of his dark little cage, hugging his knees to his chest and crying. He tries to control his hyperventilating and wipes at his face when he feels the carriage slow to a stop and two voices speaking.

“I am in charge of the palace menagerie.”

“It is a gift for his Excellency from Captain Nakamoto and his husband.”

He sniffles and wipes harder at his face when he hears gravel crunching. Two humans approaching his cage. He shifts and makes himself as small as possible.

“The Emperor’s consort will be happy with this exotic addition. Extend our thanks to the Captain and his family.”

The carriage is opened. He looks up instinctively, but as soon as he does, two ropes are looped around his neck and tightened.

He chokes on a yowl as he’s roughly pulled out of the carriage and dragged away from it. He curls into a ball as he’s pulled through the gravel and then tries pulling back as he’s dragged into a stone stairwell, winding down into the dark.

“Come! Come!” The man pulling on the rope says. Another man walks in front of him, lighting the path with a torch, and another walks behind him, pushing him along with his foot, the other rope in his hand.

They descend into a dark place, reeking of fear and anger. Yukhei freezes up even as he’s dragged down the long hall. On either side are cages, bars holding in a variety of beasts. Crocodiles, hyenas, panthers, even a giant vulture. They all stink of anger and Yukhei can tell that every single one of them is a hybrid.

“Is he really as savage as the Captain said?” The man pulling him forward asks. The man behind him answers.

“You wouldn’t ask if you’d seen what he did to the dog.”

“Excellent—” a round cage at the end of the hall is opened and Yukhei is pushed inside—“He’ll fit in well with our collection.”

There is very little light in the rest of the hall, but sunlight spills in more freely just behind his cage, making it hard to see what’s in the shadows across from him.

The door to his cage is locked and the men leave, walking back down the hall. Yukhei looks around, keeping low to the ground of his bare cage, and then shifts, grabbing onto the bars and watching as the men leave. He opens his mouth to yell after them but a deep voice stops him before he can.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, little boy.”

Yukhei jumps, startled, tracing the location of the voice to the cell right across from his. He squints to see through the shadows. Sitting there in the dark is a grown man in nothing but a loincloth. Round ears covered in brown fur poke out of his hair, his nails are short and sharp, but he can’t see a tail from here.

“These humans don’t like when we start talking. They don’t like being reminded of how similar we are to them,” the man smirks. “We’re all cousins after all.”

Yukhei sniffles, “W-What is this place?”

“You, my boy, are now part of his Excellency’s hybrid collection. We are right underneath the palace. A dangerous man with silver hair is the one in charge, no matter what anyone says. His name’s Taemin—” the man reaches over his shoulder, scratching absentmindedly—“If he were a hybrid, I’m pretty sure he’d be a bearer… Anyway, meals come once a day and if his Excellency’s boy toy comes down to have a look, you’d better stay in your fur.”

He wipes at the tears still streaming from his face and looks around at the other cells as his eyes adjust to the dim light. The other hybrids are pacing their cages or tucked away in the corners.

“We haven’t had a tiger down here in a long time though,” the man mumbles.

“Y-You’re all stuck here?”

The man stretches his arms over his head and returns to his previous position. Legs crossed and slouched over, resting his elbows on his knees. “There’s no use talking to anyone else. They’re all on the brink of madness. They might as well be animals at this point…”

Yukhei slinks to his knees, holding onto the bars to stay grounded.

“What’s your name, little boy?”

“Yukhei… My humans named me Lucas…”

“Your humans?”

He feels tears pricking at his eyes again, thinking of Sicheng and his parents, who hate him now. “They let me stay with them and fed me and taught me how to speak like them.”

“Oh. You were a pet.”

“I wasn’t a pet!” Yukhei’s tears start falling again as he balls his fists on his lap. “I was… Sicheng is my friend…”

The man hums and scratches at one of his ears, “Where were you before then?”

“With my… my Mama… They killed him… Sicheng took me in…”

The man grimaces and then frowns, “I’m sorry, Yukhei…” The little tiger cub’s ears are flat on his head and he holds his striped tail in his lap. The man sits up straight and presses a hand against his chest, “My mother named me Jongin, but the humans call me Kai. I’ve been here for many, many years, Yukhei, I know how to survive and I can teach you so you won’t end up like our poor cousins here.”

Yukhei glances up and wipes at his face, sniffling even as he meets Jongin’s sharp eyes.

“You have to be the toughest cub in the world. Nothing else matters. If you want to survive, you must fight. You must prove that you are worthy of standing on this earth and breathing the air she offers. You are all you will ever have for as long as you live. You must be the toughest cub in the world.”

Footsteps resound from down the hall and Jongin smiles encouragingly before shifting. In his huge grizzly bear form, he huffs and lumbers around his cage as if agitated. Yukhei takes Jongin’s words and ingrains them into his heart alongside the memories of his mangled family.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of my knowledge on Baekhyun and Kai and Taemin comes from SuperM. They sneaked their way into this fic lol  
> Another tiger fact for y'all: You'd think a giant black and orange cat would stand out wherever it is, but it's a lot harder to spot a tiger than you think due in part to their stripes. They make the tiger's outline/general shape distort so they're essentially blending in with their surroundings. Very hard to spot. You'll notice that was mentioned in the last chapter.
> 
> We're getting closer to the end. I hope you've been enjoying this as much as I've enjoyed uploading it :)  
> Hope you're all staying safe and well and healthy! Love y'all! :)


	5. Chapter 5

A whip cracks loudly several times as a tiger wails pitifully, the cracks coming more consistently as the animal keeps wailing.

“Come on, Minhyung! Jump! Come on! You’re a big boy now! Jump!”

Jeno watches from the stands as his husband cracks a whip against the tall platform Minhyung sits on. In just two years, the little cub’s grown to his full size and, at the start, they retired most of their acts in the ring for letting people take pictures with Minhyung. It brought in enough money, but Renjun insisted, since he was now big enough, it was time the tiger really started learning the attention-grabbing tricks.

Jaemin holds up a fire-covered ring in one hand and the whip in the other. Minhyung wails and flinches every time it cracks against the side of his platform. “Come on, Minhyung! You can do it! You won’t be hurt! Go right through it, you’ll be alright!”

Renjun glances back, arms crossed over his chest at Jeno as Jisung and Chenle clamber over to sit with him. They've been waiting for a good while now, but all Minhyung has done is cry. Jeno shrugs and Renjun smirks, turning his attention back to Jaemin and the reluctant tiger. No matter how big he’s grown, he’s still the same little scared kitten.

“Just trust me, Minhyung!”

The tiger backs away to the edge of his platform and shifts, crouching, teetering in his human form. A skinny young man in nothing but raggedy shorts, appearing to be 20 years old. He’d even call him handsome, if he weren’t a beast. 

His hair was brown when they first got him, but one late night of drinking till they were cross-eyed resulted in the hybrid getting bright pink hair. If Renjun really tries, he remembers Jisung and Chenle holding Minhyung down between them as they dyed his hair. Surprisingly, the pink didn’t affect his animal form in the slightest.

“I didn’t tell you to shift! Get back in your fur! Stupid animal, come on!”

Renjun sighs and shakes his head, sticking his hand out of the ring, taking the revolver Jisung passes him. He cocks it and approaches Minhyung’s side, “Time to try something different.”

Minhyung turns to look at him with wide eyes, wailing softly. Renjun points the pistol towards the sky and fires. Minhyung leaps off the platform with the bang, shifting as he does. He rounds the cage to come up on Renjun, roaring and baring his teeth. Renjun quickly grabs a stool and points it at Minhyung, using it to keep the growling tiger back.

“How dare you?! Back! Stay back! Come on, Lele! Jisung!”

Jisung and Chenle enter the barred ring with long sticks as Jeno grabs a catch pole. They corner the growling tiger against the bars and Jeno slips the rope around Minhyung’s neck, keeping him there. Minhyung keeps growling and slashing his paws at them even as Renjun abandons the stool for a club.

“We’re gonna teach you some manners, you damned beast!”

Jaemin sets the hoop aside, kicking out the flames and ignoring the pained growls as Renjun beats their hybrid into submission. He doesn’t like getting too rough with their animals, but, in the end, Renjun’s methods somehow always get the job done just right.

When he’s done, Minhyung is cowering against the bars even though he’s still growling in his throat. Jaemin picks up the hoop and Renjun does his little fire-breathing trick to light it again. Jisung and Chenle leave the ring as Jeno closes the gate behind them. Minhyung gets back on the tall platform as Jaemin holds the hoop up, nodding towards it.

“Now, jump.”

Minhyung looks at him and then at the ring of fire. His ears are flat against his head as he crouches and in one leap, passes through to the other platform like a pro. When Jaemin doesn’t yell for him to repeat it, the tiger lumbers over to a different small stool near the bars just like he was taught. The leader hangs the burning hoop on a hook Chenle holds out and opens the gate to the metal chute leading to the cages in the back.

“Go on,” Jaemin murmurs as Renjun stands off to the side, smirking. Minhyung hops off his stool and runs off through the tunnel.

“See, that wasn’t so hard—” Renjun grins as Jeno smiles coyly, watching the two men from the stands again—“That’s how you break a tiger.”

Jaemin sighs and hangs his head as he steps out of the ring. Chenle comes up beside him, “Should we call a vet? Just to make sure little Junie didn’t break anything?”

“That’s not necessary. Tigers have good bones. He wouldn’t break even if Jeno went at him with a metal pipe.” Jaemin runs a hand through his hair, “You and Jisung go ahead and take the night off. We’ll go back at it tomorrow afternoon.”

Chenle grins and tips his flat cap, “Thank you, ringleader! _Jisung!!!_ Let’s go!”

Renjun steps out of the circus ring and Jeno comes up between them, hooking his arms with theirs as Chenle and Jisung walk out from under the tarp. “How about we relax too? I’ve got a bottle of vodka with our names on it.”

“Sure,” Renjun chuckles. “I hope you’ve got enough lube for Jaemin’s uptight ass though.”

  
  


Mark listens to his owners as they stumble back into their little homes. He runs through the small area of the cages and straight into his open one. The cage won’t be closed until one of them remembers to, but Mark won’t budge an inch out of it. He tried escaping when he was younger, smaller, but the beating he got from his attempt… He’ll never try it again.

His muzzle and head hurt from the club the fire-breathing monster took to him, but it’s his own fault for being so stubborn. He sits in the corner of his cage, just like Baekhyun used to do, and closes his eyes, trying his hardest not to cry.

He remembers his mother, his father, his brother. He remembers their smiles, sun shining on running water, old, stone corridors. He waited and waited for his mother to come, but he never did and Mark lost hope of ever seeing his home again. He remembers his friend, who would sing him to sleep late at night when nightmares tormented him endlessly.

Baekhyun was right.

In the end, the only thing keeping him sane are his memories.

…

Jaemin sits up when he hears a car honk. Their circus is at the edge of the town, no cars come through here unless they’re coming to them. Jeno groans weakly beside him, hugging onto his bare waist to keep him in bed. “We’ve got company. Dress up, both of you.”

He shimmies out of bed from between the two sweaty, naked bodies to pull on his clothes. Renjun rolls onto his back with a whine, “I think I drank too much.”

“You’re not the one with a sore ass, now get up!” Jaemin pulls on his trousers and dress-shirt as his lovers slowly, very slowly get up. “You weren’t this lazy last night! Hurry, dammit!”

The car honks again, closer and Renjun gets it together in time for him and Jaemin to walk side by side out of the big top (well Jaemin’s really limping and he hits Renjun’s side when he brings it up). They step out into the late morning sun just as a gleaming expensive white car rolls to a stop in front of their circus. They exchange a glance and approach slowly.

A silver-haired man steps out of the car in a weird safari uniform. He glances at their sign, advertising their ferocious bloodthirsty Minhyung, and hums, almost unimpressed before turning to them, “Is your tiger really ferocious?”

“Why don’t you test him?” Renjun scoffs. “Got a spare arm? Leg?” He even goes as far as to offer the man a key, “Here’s the key to his cage.”

The man looks them both up and down, Renjun’s bravado and Jaemin’s stoic little smirk. “My master is organizing a festival. It’s to be held in exactly the same manner as the time of his late father. Have you heard of these ceremonies?”

“Of course,” Jaemin nods. “What animal will he be up against?”

“A savage one. We have the best fighting beast we’ve ever owned in captivity. We want an opponent that’s worthy of him.”

Renjun opens his mouth but Jaemin beats him to the chase, “A special beast means a special price… Five thousand dollars.”

The man arches a brow and steps closer, offering Jaemin his hand. Jaemin shakes as firmly as he can even as the man turns to look at Renjun, “He’d better be worth it.”

“He is,” Renjun glares right back at him. The man turns away to get back in his car. “Let us know when to stop feeding him.”

They watch as the man leaves, the white car driving off. Jaemin grins and hugs onto Renjun, nuzzling their foreheads together, “We’re gonna be rich, Junie!”

Renjun snorts, wrapping an arm around Jaemin’s waist as he leads him back under the tarp. “Yeah, well you better hope Minhyung puts up a good fight or we’re screwed.”

…

Dejun drums his fingers against the armrest of his ornate seat. Guanheng lays on the couch next to him in nothing but silk shorts, and if this weren’t an important moment he’d yank those shorts down and ride him until they’re both crying messes. The sun shining in through the windows behind them, casting shadows all along Guanheng’s enticing form doesn’t help either.

His personal guard comes into the room, holding a rectangular leather case. His silver hair falls into his eyes as he sets the case on the ornate table before him. Dejun smiles up at his guard and returns his attention to the case, “Thank you, Taemin.”

Taemin bows his head and moves to stand a few feet away with his hands interlaced in front of him. Dejun scoots to the edge of his seat and undoes the latches, opening up the case to reveal a velvet inside and a thick heavily jewel-encrusted collar sitting within.

Guanheng sits up immediately when he sees it, jaw dropping open, “W-Woah, Deju— your Excellency.” He gulps and rubs a hand over his throat, floored by all the glistening diamonds and emeralds. “Are they real?”

Dejun smiles, tilting the case so it’s facing Guanheng, “Of course. Everything about my father was real. Kind of overdone now, however.”

“Will it be arranged just like it was when the old man was kicking?”

“Precisely… Captain Nakamoto wants to show the people that the bond between our countries is exactly the way it used to be.” Dejun glances at his love and smiles when he sees his distaste reflected perfectly on Guanheng’s face.

“He does seem like a stickler for tradition,” Guanheng leans back against the couch, hugging a cushion to his bare chest.

Dejun hums in acknowledgement, “They only want to show that everything is the same to hide the fact that everything is different. They patronize me with their… ‘admiration’ so they can corner me after the ceremony into signing the contract for their damn schools.”

“Do they really think they’d be able to domesticate wild hybrids?” Guanheng mumbles.

“Even if they can, they’d be infecting them with nationalism and politics. They’d make the hybrids pick sides—” Dejun scoffs as he closes the case and hands it back to Taemin—“Imagine that.”

Taemin bows his head as he takes the case and leaves the room. Dejun stands, slipping out of his royal red and yellow robe to settle on Guanheng’s lap, removing the cushion between them. “As of right now, I’m more interested in different jewels,” he smirks, tilting Guanheng’s chin up as his consort’s hands come over his thighs and hips.

…

“Was he born ferocious?” Dejun asks, following behind Taemin as they walk down the hall of his menagerie to the very end. In the circular cage, a huge tiger paces back and forth, growling. Probably angry from the ordeal they just went through getting his father’s old jewel-encrusted necklace on him.

“He was a very shy animal when we brought him. Full of fear—” Taemin stops in front of the tiger’s cage, holding up a lantern—“So it was fear that makes us into killers.”

The tiger bares its teeth at them, growls rumbling in its throat. The fire of the lantern flickering in his angry eyes. Dejun wipes his sweaty hands off on the slacks of his golden suit. “Why do they call him Lucas?”

“The Captain’s child named him.”

Other servants set Dejun’s ornate seat down before the cage, a safe distance away from it, and the Emperor sits, transfixed by the beast.

“Leave me.”

Taemin stands by his side, “Your Excellency, he is very dangero—”

“Leave me,” Dejun says a bit more forcefully. Taemin nods and whirls right around, leaving with the other servants on his tail. The Emperor waits, listening to their receding footsteps and to the tiger’s continuous rumbling growls. 

When they’re gone, he focuses solely on the tiger. On the way he keeps pacing round and round in his cage, the way his lips draw back over long fangs, his dark stripes, and orange golden fur, the way the necklace glitters around his neck.

“Do you remember your father, Lucas?”

The tiger stops his pacing and stands right in front of him, seemingly glaring through him. He huffs deeply, livid.

“Was he… a great lord of the jungle?” Dejun meets his gaze head-on, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Mine was.” He can hear a rumble building in the tiger’s chest even as he continues. “Did all of the other creatures shrink in his shadow? That’s how it was with mine…”

Dejun looks away, back straight and firm against his seat, “Was yours disappointed in his son?”

Lucas growls loudly, roaring, almost in warning, but Dejun isn’t scared. He isn’t scared of anything because he is the Emperor.

“No… Perhaps yours was not,” Dejun smiles slightly, meeting the tiger’s eyes again, but that only seems to infuriate the creature further. He roars again and Dejun nearly grimaces, feeling specks of spit on his face. He raises a hand to wipe them away and sighs deeply as he stands.

“So you too think one must be cruel in this world. That one must be cruel to gain respect…” He glares the hybrid down, illusion of some sort of bond forming destroyed as he marches off.

  
  


Yukhei watches the little man stomp off and growls at his receding back before shifting and sitting in the middle of his cage. The necklace around his neck digs into his collarbones, but after a bit of trying to get it off manages to wear it like a broad collar.

He grew out of his little shorts a long time ago and now he’s just as Jongin was when they first met. Broad, muscular, and in nothing but a loincloth.

The cage across from him is empty now. Bears live a long time, longer than tigers, but he’d already been here long enough. Jongin went to the other side in his sleep and Yukhei wouldn’t realize it until the next morning when his body was taken away.

The Emperor’s boy toy came down here not a week after, laughing and drunk on wine, wearing a bear hide over his shoulders and the skull over his head. The anger that bubbled out of him when he caught a whiff of the scent clinging to the bone changed him forever.

He hasn’t forgotten a word of the human language or any of the cruelty with which he’s been treated. All he knows is he must be tough if he wants to live to see the next day. The little man’s words angered him because it’s been a long time since he’s thought of his family, and even longer since he’s remembered their fates. Both his parents shot and his brother lost to the human’s greed.

He growls and waits, and waits, and waits.

…

The day of the festival comes and all those able to buy a ticket or personally invited by the Emperor are welcomed to the main event. A showdown between two vicious hybrid beasts. The sun is high in the sky. It’s as hot as it’s always been. The music flows freely in the air as if nothing could ever go wrong.

Yuta sports his best uniform, his arm linked with his handsome husband’s. Kun wears his best suit, holding a parasol in his free hand. Beside them, their son follows in his best clothes, smiling up at them with a lollipop in his mouth.

“We’ve got him, my love. He’s promised to sign at the end of the ceremony,” Yuta murmurs with a grin. “Once his name is on the dotted line, we’re going back home.”

Kun sighs and smiles wide, “Finally. Though I do wish we didn’t have to come to this. If I faint at the first sight of blood, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Yuta kisses his cheek, “I’ll be there to catch you. Always.”

“It could happen,” Sicheng says around his candy. “It could be my tiger.”

They walk up the steps to the seats of the gladiator-like arena, though nowhere near as large. They find good seats and make themselves comfortable as other people do the same all around them.

“Think about it,” Sicheng continues. “It’s possible.”

“Sicheng, stop it. It won’t be your tiger.” Kun sighs and shakes his head, handing his parasol to his husband for him to hold. Yuta does so absentmindedly, too busy waving hello to a familiar face not far from where they’re seated.

  
  


Johnny waves back and holds Taeil’s hand tight in his. The two years they’ve spent together have been both magical and eventful. They finished scouting out the hybrid villages and maybe took a couple of detours, losing themselves in the wilderness. They’ve returned with a bond unbreakable and a better understanding of hybrids than they could've ever imagined. 

They’re both dressed in nice suits, sitting side by side in the stands, and are only there because Captain Nakamoto insisted they go. “Your best friend,” Taeil murmurs around a chuckle.

Johnny smiles and shakes his head, “Shush. You don’t know how horrible it was living in that house with them.”

“You’ve told me many times,” Taeil presses a kiss to his jaw. “Maybe we can go watch a film before we go back?”

Johnny glances down to meet his gaze and bumps their noses together once, completely enamored, “Anything you want, Ilie.”

Taeil grins and returns his attention to the dirt arena below, “I can’t wait for this show.”

“Yeah,” Johnny murmurs. There’s a barred circular cage below, so that the hybrids can’t escape and there’s a few guards around it armed with spears in case they do, but then the smile drops from his face when he recognizes one of the men down there. A familiar young man in a ringleader’s outfit. He squeezes Taeil’s hand as he stands, “I’ll be right back.” Taeil nods, waving down a popcorn vendor with a smile.

Johnny finds his way towards the back of the arena where a few railroad cars sit, belonging to the circus. He makes his way through until he finds what he’s looking for, his heart plummeting. He approaches slowly and rests a hand against the bars of the cage. “Aw fuck… it is you, isn’t it?”

The grown tiger sitting inside glances at him but doesn’t so much as acknowledge his words. He sighs like he’s bored out of his mind… like he’s given up.

“I’m so sorry,” Johnny murmurs and draws the same old canister out of his coat pocket. He grabs one of the candies and tosses it in. It lands in the hay right in front of the tiger’s muzzle, but he makes no move to eat it or even look at it. “Don’t you recognize me…? You’re the one that’s changed though… You’re so big now,” Johnny smiles, but the tiger just sighs again, unresponsive.

“Looking for another tiger skin?”

Johnny turns around to see Renjun and Jaemin approaching.

“That one’s not for sale,” the ringleader says.

“No, but he soon will be. You know his Excellency’s tiger is a wild beast. Yours, on the other hand, is a poodle, trained to sit and beg. He’ll be torn to pieces.”

Jaemin glares at the tall man, “How dare you lecture us? Who do you think you are? So one tiger will die, but every penny we earn from it will be spent keeping the rest of our animals alive.”

Johnny clenches his fists at his sides, “I asked you to take care of him, not send him to the slaughter.”

“You’re the hunter, not us,” Jaemin spits. “You're the one who gets rich by killing.”

Johnny turns back to the cage, to the broken tiger sitting in there. He still remembers how small he was when he held him in his hands, when he took him from his family. He clenches his jaw and grabs the key from the lock on the cage, walking away from them.

“Give us the key, you idiot,” Renjun grumbles.

“I’ll buy him from you. I’ll match whatever they paid for him.”

Renjun scoffs, “You couldn’t afford it.” He holds out his hand. “The key, please.” 

When the tall hunter refuses to hand it over, he whistles, grabbing the attention of the rest of his crew, Jeno, Chenle, and Jisung coming from out of the woodwork. “Come on, boys,” he smirks as they close in on him. “Give us the key,” he rumbles and throws the first punch.

  
  


Loud orchestral music plays as the ceremony begins and the arena is filled with the excited chatter of everyone gathered to watch. Dejun walks out onto his shaded box seat with Guanheng at his side in matching white suits. He raises a hand, waving to the crowd that erupts into applause. The music crescendos and stops as the Emperor takes his seat. Guanheng sits a bit behind him and tugs on his sleeve when he spots the Captain and his family.

Dejun glances over to see Captain Nakamoto smiling pleasantly and not so discreetly holding an envelope in his lap. He doesn’t so much as smile back as he turns his gaze back to the arena. He raises his arm and lowers it, giving the go-ahead for the fight to begin.

  
  


A gong resounds three times through the entirety of the arena as Johnny hurries back towards where he left Taeil. He wipes at the blood seeping from his nose and offers a hand to his boyfriend, who takes it with quirked brows. “We’re done here. Let’s go.” Taeil follows him without question as the orchestra starts playing again, an exhilarating piece.

  
  


Yukhei paces his cage down below the arena. The Emperor didn’t come to see him again and neither has his boy toy, but the man in charge, Taemin, did and instructed him to kill without question. Taemin fed him the whole time he’s been locked up so he figures he should obey, just this once.

The door to his cage is opened and Yukhei growls as he bounds up the stairs, through a metallic tunnel, and into an arena. The dust flies under his paws as he runs around the entirety of it, looking for somewhere else to go, but this is just another cage. All around, humans sit above, cheering and yelling in awe at the sight of him. He runs back and forth, growling and roaring, letting anger fester and cloud his senses.

  
  


“Lucas! It’s Lucas, Papa! It’s him!”

Both Yuta and Kun look down at their son. Yuta starts before Kun can become agitated, “How could it be? You know very well he’s in a zoo in Berlin.”

“—In a zoo in Bangkok.”

Yuta and Kun meet eyes, Kun’s narrowing as Yuta shakes his head and waves a hand dismissively. “Whatever. The point, my baby, is that he’s a thousand miles away.”

Sicheng pouts up at them and looks back down at the huge tiger running around, “I know it’s him. I can feel it.”

  
  


Renjun jabs at Minhyung with a pole through the bars, prodding him to get out of the cage. “Get a move on! Come on! Go! Move!”

The tiger wails pitifully but stands and lumbers out of his cage.

“Time to get to work, Minhyung,” he snaps as the tiger slowly makes his way towards his metal chute. “You’re a ferocious beast, so act like one!” He closes the gate as soon as Minhyung is inside. The tiger keeps walking through and stops when he sees the leader just outside his tunnel, leaning down to whisper, “Minhyung, God be with you, my brother.”

Mark turns his gaze towards the end of his tunnel and sees another tiger standing there, growling viciously, waiting for him to come out. He takes another step forward but flinches when the tiger roars at him. Fear courses through his body and he backs away, trying to return the way he came. He wails but the fire-breathing monster strikes a club against the metal.

“Go on, Minhyung! Go!”

The gate at the other end of the tunnel is opened and Mark sees the other tiger backing up towards the center of the dirt ring. He sits and wails, hoping they’ll let him go back to his own cage, but that doesn’t happen. The monsters prod and jab at him with long sticks, forcing him out of the tunnel and into the arena. 

The gate to the tunnel is closed as soon as he’s out and he cowers by the bars. He looks over his shoulder when he hears a thunderous growl and the other tiger running straight at him with claws outstretched.

The people in the stands shriek as the two tigers face each other. Mark wills himself to his feet and growls as the other tiger gets in his face, growling just as loud as he is. He steps backwards as he steps forward. Heads down, ears flat against their skulls. And then they stop as Mark's fear like tidal waves crashes down on him, he swipes at him, baring his teeth, hoping it’s enough to deter his opponent, but it only seems to anger him more.

They start swiping and slashing at each other, dancing around the ring in a fight. Tufts of fur float in the air with every swing of their paws. Kun yells in fear and covers up Sicheng’s eyes. Yuta grins and wraps an arm around his son and husband, holding them close as the two tigers battle it out.

Dejun smiles, pleased. It’s clear _his_ tiger is fiercer, but the circus one is putting up a good fight. He grins when he feels Guanheng’s excited hands winding around one of his arms, watching the two hybrids fight. Guanheng's happiness makes him feel like he's doing a better job of an Emperor than his father ever was. They’d never allow the hybrids to shift into their human forms, no, but if they do, well there’s a rifleman ready to remind them of their place.

Mark begins to grow tired as the other tiger’s hits grow stronger and harder. If he doesn’t do something, his claws are gonna begin to slash through his fur.

Yukhei knows the battle is close to finished, feels the other tiger’s blows growing weaker and weaker. All he needs to do is land the finishing blow. And he gets his chance as he corners the tiger against the bars.

Mark rolls onto his back, teeth bared, claws outstretched, and ready to defend any attacks against his throat, but he’s tired, he’s so tired, and he’s sure the other tiger can sense it. So he just stops, ready to make the journey to the other side, to finally join his father.

Their eyes meet and Mark thinks he’s seen these eyes before, in this same position. He hears a stream trickling nearby, the calls and cries of birds and insects, feels the jungle floor beneath his feet, and high above in a tree, his brother meowing squeaky.

_“Yukhei?”_

The growl building in his throat dies down as quickly as it came up. Yukhei recognizes that voice. He recognizes that tongue. The anger clouding his mind dissipates and he looks, really looks down at his opponent. He remembers the taste of honey on his tongue, the bark beneath his claws, and his brother at the bottom, concerned brown eyes looking up at him. The same brown eyes staring up at him at this very moment.

_“Mark…?”_

Mark feels his eyes prick with tears and stands, hugging his brother, butting their foreheads together, and wrapping his paws around his neck. Yukhei purrs and nuzzles back, heart climbing up in his throat.

_“I thought you were gone, Mark. I thought you and—”_

_“I’m here. I’m here. I missed you so much, Yukhei.”_

Yukhei feels the tears streaking down the fur on his face at his brother’s broken voice, but he smiles and hugs him tight, purring and chuffing. Mark chuffs back and licks his forehead. Both brothers beyond words as they cuddle like they used to.

Mark nudges his head against Yukhei’s shoulder and it’s like they were never apart, as if they’re cubs again. Yukhei chases behind Mark, pouncing on him, and then Mark purrs and chases behind Yukhei. Back and forth in the ring.

The crowd of humans watching laugh amused at the fight turned play, even Emperor Dejun smiles from where he’s perched at the edge of his seat.

The guards around the cage pick up stones at the instruction of Taemin, “Get them angry! Get them fighting! Stop them playing!”

Yukhei sits, purring as Mark leaps back and forth, batting his paws at him. And then the stones start flying at them. They move away from the angry guards, Mark slinking low to the ground and Yukhei glaring at them.

_“We gotta get out of here.”_

_“How? We’re locked in. They want us to kill each other.”_ Mark cowers over towards the bars.

“Minhyung! What are you doing!? Fight, you damn animal!” Renjun sticks a pole in, reaching as far as he can to hit Mark with it.

Yukhei growls and launches himself at the human trying to hurt his brother, biting onto his arm. Renjun cries out as he’s pulled against the bars, as the tiger bites down harder. Everyone in the crowd collectively gasps and shrieks. Jaemin grabs a pistol and in a hurry enters the cage, forgetting to properly close it in his rush to save one of his lovers. He aims the gun at the tiger but doesn’t see Minhyung coming right at him.

Mark bites onto his jacket, dragging him around the ring until the leader monster releases the gun. He notices the open cage door and growls, _“Yukhei! It’s open!”_

His brother lets go of the fire-breathing monster and runs for the open gate, _“Let’s go!”_

The crowd cries out in fear as someone points out the open door. Everyone begins to run and hurry away from where the tigers emerge to try and leave the arena in one piece. Yuta passes Sicheng to Kun, “Go! Take him away from here!”

“Go! Run! Run, Lucas! Run!” Sicheng cries even as his papa carries him away.

Yukhei trots ahead, growling and snarling at any humans in his way, Mark following on his heels. _“Stay close to me.”_

Mark nods and follows Yukhei as they climb up into the stands. The humans shriek and cry out, hurrying to get out of their way. It’s complete chaos as they find their way out and towards the back, the only exit to the outside world not blocked with humans.

Yukhei looks back but continues forward past cages, _“They’re not following yet.”_ Ahead lies a bridge over a murky river, it’s just crossing it and they can start on their long way home. He stops when he doesn’t hear his brother following. He goes back and sees him, sitting in his cage. _“Mark, what are you doing?!”_

_“I can’t… They’ll find us, Yukhei, they’ll beat us to death… It’s not safe.”_

_“Mark, it’s not safe_ **_here_** _! We have to go back home! Those humans won’t hurt us anymore. We’re together and we’ll protect each other.”_

Mark looks at his brother through the bars and then glances around. There is no fire-breathing monster, no leader, and none of the other monsters around to scold him. He slowly steps out of his cage and when no rope is looped around his neck or club thrown at him, he hurries to follow after his brother.

Yukhei chuffs happily and runs ahead across the bridge with Mark close beside him. Mark glances over his shoulder a few times but stops when Yukhei brushes up against him, bonking their heads together. He chuffs and purrs, running beside his brother down the dirt road, leaving behind the mess of humans.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES! YES! WHERE ARE THE STREAMERS?! SOMEONE BRING THE CHAMPAGNE! I'M BRINGING PARTY HATS! THEY OUT OF THAT BITCH!
> 
> lolll and here's another tiger fact: tiger cubs stay with their mother for two years, basically learning how to survive. It's when they're grown and start getting annoyed with each other that they go their own ways.
> 
> Hope you're all doing alright and staying well and safe! Next chapter is the last! Hope y'all like it! :)


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